Restless
by Walker Witch
Summary: Daryl has just finished leading thousands of walkers away from Alexandria, but something went terribly wrong in the process. Daryl's flying back home on his motorcycle to help his survivor family when he meets a lone person walking towards their certain death. He has a choice save one at the at the possible chance of hurting his family. That choice will change his life forever.
1. Chapter 1

Daryl was flying down the deserted country road on his motorcycle trying his damnedest to get back to Alexandria. Dust and dead leaves soared through the air in his wake. Rick's idea to lead this incredibly large herd of walkers out of the quarry and out of the path of Alexandria had almost worked…almost. Something had gone wrong at the last minute…really, really wrong and Daryl wasn't sure what had happened. He had heard the loud horn that had sounded, but where did that come from and why? All he knew is that they ended up only with about half the herd following him on his bike and Sasha and Abraham in their car. According to Rick over the radio the rest somehow ended up at Alexandria, the community that they all called home.

Daryl needed to get back there to help as soon as possible, so that's why when they hit the twenty mile mark away from their community, he left Sasha and Abraham literally in his dust. Their beat up old car was not a match for his fast motorcycle.

He had only gone about three miles when he saw a lone figure walking towards him. He knew he had two choices to make, either speed by them and leave them to the mercy of the herd they were sure to encounter or stop and convince them to change directions. He knew he had to stop, but at what cost would that be to his family left back at Alexandria? These past couple years with Rick and the group had changed him for the better. He no longer put himself first and all else be damned. At one point in time he would have left this person to their own ill-fated destiny, but not now. He wasn't that man anymore.

As he approached the figure, he could see that they held a knife in their hand and he knew he had to be careful. No one could be trusted anymore, not until they at least earned it. The good were few and far between and he had been burned too many times to count.

He pulled his bike up on the opposite side of the road and turned towards the stranger.

"Don't come near me," they said with a shaky voice. That's when Daryl realized that it was a woman and not a man.

"Don't want to go that way," he told her. There's a huge herd at the intersection a few miles down. You'll never make it through. Best to turn around and try another way."

Daryl noticed that she looked really tired and was probably hungry. " _Hell weren't we all_ ," he thought to himself. "Need food or water?" He didn't wait for her reply, but dug into his pack to give her something.

"I don't need your help. Just leave me alone," she said as she continued to walk slowly in the same direction. Dayna was tired, scared and about at the end of her rope. She has been one her own for the better part of a week, when the last few of her group got caught unaware by walkers. Dayna was the only one to make it out alive. She hadn't had anything to eat or drink in a day and a half and it was making her weak, but she vowed she wasn't going to be stupid. Her grip on the knife strengthened as she continued to walk down the empty road, she did her best to keep aware of the stranger by the motorcycle.

"Hey, I said don't go that way!" Daryl called out to the woman. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Dayna turned to him in a fury, her knife still clutched in her hand. "What is wrong with me? Who are you to even ask that? You don't know me or anything about me, so just leave me alone!"

Daryl had enough. He was risking helping his friends and family to help out the ungrateful bitch. "You know what you're right. Why should I give a fuck that you are walking into a death trap? Here's a bottle of water." He tossed her the half full bottle, which she caught. "I'm outta here." Daryl walked back and straddled his bike.

"Wait," Dayna called out. She looked at the biker. He was shaggy, dirty and his face held what she figured was a permanent sneer. She had always steered clear of men like him as they frightened her. "Are you lying to me about the herd? Why should I trust you?" she opened the warm bottle of water and drank most of it down in one long swallow.

Daryl stopped just as he was about to start the bike. He turned towards the woman and noticed that she had taken a few steps towards him. She was dirtier than he was and that said a lot. "My friends and I brought them here to get them away from our…the place where we are staying. I didn't have to stop, could have kept on going and left you to find out the hard way, but I didn't. Just…go another way. That's all." He didn't care if she believed him or not, he had to get back to Alexandria.

He started the bike and looked towards this lone woman one more time. He had to go…he had to leave her, he didn't have a choice.

"Thank you," said Dayna to him. "And for the water too."

Daryl just nodded in her direction and just when he was about to take off, dozens of walkers started to emerge from the woods at the edge of the road. "Fuck!" he said. He realized the woman would never survive if he left her here and the fear in her eyes told him she knew that too. "Get on… quick!" he shouted at her.

Dayna realized that if she didn't get on the motorcycle with the stranger she was as good as dead. There was only one choice for her to make and she ran towards the biker and hopped on behind him. She barely had enough time to grab onto him before the bike sped off.

Daryl had the bike flying the moment she grabbed onto him and was trying to get to a road that was just a little ways down, but they weren't going to make it. "Hang on," he called out to her. He slowed the bike down and turned into the field on their right. He prayed there weren't any holes or tree limbs that would unexpectedly bring this desperate ride to a quick and unfortunate end as he couldn't see much if anything in the tall grass. The only thing he concentrated on was getting away from this piece of the herd that had broken off from the main group.

The bike bumped through the uneven ground, but they luckily never encountered any unexpected obstacles. After a lot of cursing under his breath, Daryl was finally able to maneuver out of the overgrown field and back on smooth blacktop. They left the herd behind them, but he was still zigzagging around stragglers that always seemed to be in the way. His passenger was hanging onto him tightly as he realized he was not getting any closer to Alexandria.

No matter what he tried and every turn he took if only brought him further and further away from where he desperately wanted…needed to be. The sun was starting to go down and he knew it was vital to find a place to hold up for the night. A few miles down the road he found a neighborhood that looked pretty clear. He pulled up in front of a blue ranch style house and turned off the bike. His passenger got off slowly and he followed.

She spoke for the first time since their manic ride started. "What are we doing?' she asked softly. He could hear fear in her voice.

"Night is coming and I can't make it back to my group. Gonna need to find a place to lay low for tonight and start back in the morning. This house is as good as any." Daryl saw the woman's eyes grow large and he knew she didn't understand. "Listen, I ain't gonna hurt you. I'm not like that. All I want is to find a place where we can be safe for a few hours and maybe get some sleep. That's all." He grabbed his crossbow off the back of his bike and threw his pack over his shoulder. "Follow me and stay alert."

The woman nodded to him and they set off to clear the house. The front door opened easily enough and Daryl quickly swept all the rooms. The occupants were long gone and luckily there were not any walkers inside. He had about enough of them today as it was.

Daryl walked down the hall heading back to the living room looking to secure the front door, when he paused in front of a mirror. He hadn't looked at himself in a very long time. " _Damn, I look like road kill_ ," he thought to himself. His hair was long, shaggy and simply a mess. He had gotten so used to his bangs being in his eyes that he didn't even notice it anymore. He had given up thinking about what he looked like a longtime ago. He was covered in a dust and dirt from riding all day down the deserted route that they had lead the walkers through. He had ripped the sleeves off his shirt ages ago and his pants had more holes in them than he remembered. The only thing that was in good condition was his favorite leather vest. " _No wonder she was afraid of me, hell I think I'm afraid of me_ ," he said to himself. Now he knew why Carol was always on his case.

Daryl and Dayna together moved a sturdy piece of furniture in front of the door to block it off from intruders. The best he could do with the back door was put a chair under the handle. Silently they worked on making sure the blinds and curtains were closed. They needed to remain anonymous in the house. Daryl had already made sure that his bike was now out of sight, but assessable if they needed it.

After all of this he still didn't know anything about this woman he had found, not even her name. He wasn't comfortable being in close quarters with a person he didn't know, but he didn't have a choice. Sleeping wouldn't be an option for him tonight even though he was bone tired, he'd have to stay alert or risk everything. He was smarter than that.

"Should be good for the night," he said in his gravelly voice. "I'm Daryl." When she didn't answer him he said, "Listen, I know you don't know me, but if I wanted to hurt you it woulda already been done. Told you I ain't like that. We'll rest up here tonight and move out at daybreak. It's up to you if you want to come back with me to my group…they're good people."

Daryl kept his eyes on the woman. He could tell that she had been on the road awhile. Her clothes weren't in any better condition that his and her face showed signed of her extreme fatigue. Her eyes were dark and dull and she was moving too slowly to have survived much longer.

"My name is…Dayna. Thank you for everything that you did. You don't know me and yet you saved me. I really...appreciate it." Dayna suddenly started to feel lightheaded she had to grab the back of a chair to keep her balance.

"Whoa, you better sit down," Daryl told her. "When was the last time you slept or ate anything?" He was concerned. Daryl grabbed her by the arm and steered her toward a soft chair. Dayna closed her eyes for a moment and relaxed. This was the first time in weeks she could actually not have to worry about anything...even if it was just for a few minutes.

She finally opened her eyes and saw Daryl watching her intently. "It's been a day or two since I ate last. We…I lost most of the supplies a few days ago when my small group had a surprise visit by a bunch of walkers." Dayna felt like she hadn't eaten in weeks, even though it was just a few days. She couldn't remember the last time she wasn't hungry.

Daryl went and searched his pack. Even though today wasn't supposed to have been the day they planned for this big walker move, when the quarry opened up accidently on its own, they had to make to make it work. He always carried water and food with him just in case, because nothing ever went according to plan. He still had a full bottle of water, a few protein bars and a bag of nuts. It was better than nothing. Daryl took out two protein bars and handed them to Dayna.

"Hey, take these," he told her when she didn't respond. "You need to eat." She looked up at him with huge sad brown eyes. Daryl squatted down next to the chair so he wasn't towering over her. He figured he looked intimidating enough.

Dayna took the protein bars that Daryl handed to her. She was so tired that she wasn't even afraid of him anymore. There was something about this gruff talking biker that made her felt safe. She hadn't felt safe in months or maybe years. "Thank you, "Dayna said looking past his dirty scruffy face and seeing his kind blue eyes. "I owe you my life. I don't think I can ever thank you enough for that."

"Just eat these, they'll help you gain some energy back. The herd was kinda my groups fault, so I'm glad we were able to get away." Daryl handed her the warm bottle of water. "Drink some too, you're probably dehydrated."

Dayna took the bottle from him and drank a few swallows and handed it back. She quietly ate one protein bars and stuffed the second into her pocket. The food felt good in her stomach, but her fatigue was quickly winning out. She brought her knees up to her chest and snuggled into the chair as much as she could and closed her eyes. Sleep overtook her instantly.

Daryl stood up and walked to the sofa across the room and sat down. He laid his head back and closed his eyes for just a second. He wasn't going to sleep, no matter how tired he was, but just needed a quick resting of his gritty eyes.

After maybe a minute or so he reopened them. Anything longer he chanced falling asleep and he didn't trust Dayna….not yet at least. He hadn't the slightest idea how old she was. After a good night's sleep, some real food and a shower, she'd be in much better shape. Alexandria offered all of that. The big question was what happened there in his absence. That thought repeated itself over and over again throughout the long night. He hoped his people had survived. Daryl then did something he had never done… he prayed.


	2. Chapter 2

Night had come a little while ago as Daryl sat in the dark quiet room. He only had his small flashlight to help him see and he used it sparingly. He had nothing to do but watch Dayna sleep and think. He had already taken it upon himself to move her to the more comfortable couch. He had planned on staying up all night, so it was better for her to sleep on the sofa and not curled up in a chair. She hadn't stirred a bit when he picked her up in his strong arms and gently laid her down. Daryl had then settled in for a long night in the chair he had moved her from.

Throughout the evening everything stayed quiet outside. " _At least something is going right_ ," he thought to himself. Earlier in the evening he had checked the radio that he had used to communicate with Rick and Sasha, but no one answered him. It didn't seem dead, but he decided to turn it off for now to save whatever battery he had left.

Daryl stayed awake in the chair and did nothing but let his mind wander. He thought about Alexandria and wondered what could have happened there? What was that loud horn and why did it start? Even though the walls had been reinforced, did it hold against the hundreds if not thousands of walkers that broken off? He hoped his group…his friends, that had become his family, were okay. Daryl was so tired of losing people. There were too many to count after almost two years of this hell, but the hardest loss was Beth. She was the first person he had cared about in a very long time. She had touched his cold heart, but it was as a little sister, nothing more…she was someone he could talk and that did not come easy for him. Beth thought he was a better person than he knew he was and now she was gone. In an unexpected instant, with a single shot from a gun, she was out of his life. She had filled a void that he hadn't even known existed. He missed her every day.

Daryl swiped at a tear that threatened to drop. " _Pussy_ ," he called himself. " _Quit being such a dick about shit you can't fix._ " He turned to look over at Dayna's sleeping form. She had felt like a feather when he lifted her from the chair to the sofa. She needed a good meal, hell of a lot of good meals. He would bring her back to Alexandria and the community would help her heal. Even though he still felt like an outsider there, he had found a purpose to his life that he had never had. He and Aaron searched the countryside for anyone they could bring back to Alexandria.

Dawn was coming up over the horizon and even though Daryl couldn't see it in the darkened house, he could feel it. He never wore a watch, but all of the time he has spent hunting and tracking from a young boy on had given him a general sense on what time it was. He looked over at Dayna. She was still sound asleep. She hadn't moved a muscle all night long. Daryl decided to give her a little bit more time. He knew that sleep would help her regain her strength. He wondered what she looked like under all that grime and the oversized clothes. Her hair had been stuffed up under a ball cap, but he thought it was some sort of shade of brown. She still was pretty much a stranger to him.

He stood up and stretched. His muscles were tight from the combination of riding all day and sitting most of the night. He had gotten up a few times to check on the house, yet everything had remained quiet. Daryl walked into the kitchen and turned on his flashlight. He started opening the old oak cabinets going through them one at a time looking to see if there was any type of food left. He didn't hold out much hope. He finally found a small pantry that had a half box of stale cereal and a can of green beans tucked into a corner. " _Not exactly the breakfast of champions_ ," he mumbled to himself," _But better than nuthin'._ " He ate a couple of handfuls of the old cereal and instantly knew he'd need the water to wash it down. Daryl wandered back to the living room and by now the sun had come up enough to lighten the room. He spied the half empty water bottle on a side table and walked over to pick it up. The cap twisted off easy enough, but he only took a slip. This was the last of the water they had.

Daryl went to put the bottle on the table, but it missed the table instead landing on the floor with a loud thud. Dayna woke up instantly at the startling noise. She quickly looked around the room confused. " _Where am I_?" she wondered. Her eyes scanned the room for danger and quickly landed on Daryl who stood a few feet from her. His serious blue eyes locked onto Dayna's surprised ones. It took her a second to remember him.

"You okay?" he asked her. Daryl could tell that she was startled.

"Yeah…I was just… lost there for a second." Dayna rubbed her sleepy eyes. "How long was I out?"

"Probably eight or ten hours, I think. You conked out pretty soon after we got here," he told her.

"No way! I haven't slept that long in months." Dayna was shocked. She knew she was exhausted, but sleeping that long meant she had let her guard significantly down for the first time in ages. She had no logical reason why, but she knew she could trust Daryl and she usually trusted no one.

"You were fuckin' exhausted. You needed it." Daryl told her. "Here. It's all we got." Daryl handed Dayna the box of cereal and the can of green beans. "I can open the can if you want."

Dayna laughed. "I never thought of cereal and green beans together, but today anything works. Open it up Daryl." Dayna felt so much better than she did yesterday. Her skin itched and looking down at her arms she realized how dirty she was. At least Daryl wasn't much better, she realized. Water was hard to come by these days, so staying clean wasn't really an option.

Her rescuer was still a big mystery to Dayna. She watched him take his large hunting knife out to open the can. He put the can down on a table and forced the knife's sharp blade through the top. Dayna took a good look at Daryl. He had a wiry, sinewy build, but his arm muscles were very well defined. " _That crossbow keeps those biceps in shape, that's for sure_ ," she thought to herself. Daryl's long shaggy bangs had fallen forward covering up much of his face as he worked to open the can. Dayna felt something deep inside stir that she has almost given up on…she was attracted to this man. " _I can't be_ ," ran through her head. " _He's so not my type_." That gravelly voice, the biker appearance and the somber look he had was not the type of guy she would ever had looked at once. He wouldn't have been a blip on her radar…at least that was back when the world was normal. However, she detected an innate kindness from him. Could she trust her instincts?

Daryl turned and handed Dayna and handed her the can. Thanking Daryl, Dayna got up and walked to the kitchen to drain the liquid. " _Old habits die hard_ ," she thought as it went down the kitchen drain. She hadn't considered just dumping it anywhere. She popped one into her mouth as she walked back to the living room. Chewy and waxy, just like typical canned green beans. Dayna ate a few more and offered the can to Daryl.

"I'm good," he said.

"C'mon," Dayna said with a smile. "You know you want some. What's better than cold waxy beans in the morning?"

Daryl looked at her and the corner if his mouth lifted into a half smile. "That good, huh? 'Kay, you talked me into some."

The unexpected smile threw Dayna for a moment. " _Wow_ ," she thought, That completely changed his face. A softer more relaxed Daryl was an even more attractive Daryl. Dayna forgot for a moment what she was doing, until she realized that Daryl had said something to her. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"The beans…you talked me into them, but how about handin' them over?"

"Oh I'm sorry, I just kinda spaced out there for a second," Dayna apologized. "Here they are."

Daryl poured himself a handful and gave the can back to Dayna. He popped a few in his mouth and when he finished those he ate the rest in one quick move. "Well," he said thinking about the time he had to eat worms. "Had worse, not by much, but its close."

Dayna laughed at him. They were really pretty bad, but at this time they couldn't be choosy. She liked this more relaxed Daryl, but she wasn't sure she liked the butterflies she was feeling. There was no place for feelings like that in this world, at least not for her and she was never a one night stand type of girl.

Together they finished up the beans and the leftover cereal, washing it down with the small amount of water they had left. Daryl started to move the piece of furniture they had put in front of the door and Dayna ran over to give him a hand. They had the door accessible again, but before they headed out Daryl looked out one of the windows to get an idea of what was going on outside. It looked clear.

"Here's the plan," he said turning to Dayna. "We'll head towards Alexandria, that's where my group is. It's a walled community. Something happened there when I was gone yesterday, so I need to approach it carefully. Best case… all is good, worst case…the wall may be down. I just don't know. Are you okay coming with me?"

"Yeah, I'm good with it….Daryl?"

"What?" he asked. His hand was on the doorknob as he was ready to head out.

"Thank you for everything you did for me. I would have died if you hadn't helped me. I don't know…how I can ever repay that." Dayna smiled sweetly at him. All she had to offer him was her smile and a few words. She didn't think was enough, but it was all she had.

"Well I was our fault you got caught up in the herd, but …it all ended up okay," he replied gruffly. He never felt comfortable when people thanked him. "Let's go."

There were not any walkers in the immediate area around the house so it was easy for them to bring the bike out from hiding and head out together. Daryl secured his crossbow and pack , then climbed on. Dayna slid in behind him. The engine started with a roar and Dayna quickly wrapped her arms around Daryl's waist and clung onto him just like yesterday, except this time she was no longer afraid. She was curious about this community he had spoken about and hoped it may be the answer that she had been looking for. Only time would tell.


	3. Chapter 3

Daryl took them down many winding roads as he headed back towards Alexandria. The roads were deserted of all signs of human life. Walkers were slowly scattered throughout the area, but the closer they got to Alexandria the more and more of them appeared. The ride was quiet as they both were lost in their own thoughts. Daryl was worried about what he would find when they made it back and Dayna wondered what to expect. Daryl had given her very little information on this place he was taking her to. All she could do was trust him and it continued to surprise her that she did.

By the time they were about a half mile out, the road started to become too dangerous to continue to ride down. There were just too many walkers around. Daryl knew of a house he hoped he could get to that would give them a place to work from. He had cleared it a while ago and stored supplies there. "Hang on," he called out and felt Dayna tighten her hold on him.

"Get ready," he shouted back to Dayna. "Follow me!"

Dayna had been in some very close situations before, but this was become very scary. The walker population was huge here and she questioned why they stayed, shouldn't they be getting out of here? Apparently Daryl thought otherwise because all of a sudden, he stopped the bike next to a shed. Dayna jumped off the back of the bike and Daryl was right behind her. He grabbed his crossbow and ran. Dayna was right on his heels with her knife in her hand. Together they took out any walker that got in their way. Daryl was using his crossbow to knock them out of the way and they both were bloodied from the ones they killed with their knives.

Dayna was about to lose all hope, when Daryl dragged her to a door and threw them both inside. He slammed the deadbolt into place and pulled Dayna away from the door. The sound of walkers outside and banging on the door was unsettling. Dayna was exhausted and completely out of breath. One night of sleep and a little food did not make up for weeks going without.

"C'mon, we need to get away from the door and windows. They need to forget that we are here." Daryl moved them both to the interior of this abandoned house. He took the staircase to the upstairs and Dayna followed without a word. He moved soundlessly into what used to be a kid's room and put the crossbow down on the bed. The shoulder bag he used for supplies ended up next to it. Dayna hadn't even seen him take if off the motorcycle.

Daryl moved to the closet and opened the door. Dayna was confused on what he was doing, but she continued to watch. He moved a ratty box out of the way and drew his knife. Using the edge of it, he pried a panel of wood away that revealed an opening and from there he removed a backpack.

"Supplies," he told Dayna as he made his way back to the bed. "I use this place if I get caught out at night. We got more food, water and batteries for the radio."

"Radio?" Dayna asked. "Who are you trying to contact?"

"Rick, Glenn or any of my group in Alexandria. We use these when on runs or when we are outside of the walls." Daryl took the radio out of his pack and walked to the bedroom window. He knew it overlooked the walled community in the distance. "Fuck," was all he could say at the scene that was playing out before him. He heart sank and he dropped his head unable to believe what was happening outside the window.

"Daryl? What's wrong?" Dayna asked quietly. She walked over to the window and touched his arm.

"Look," was all he said his voice full of emotion.

Dayna turned and looked out the cracked window. It took her a few moments to try to understand what she saw going outside. The wall was impressive, but so was the amount of walkers that stood outside of it. There were so many! Then she saw it. A portion of the wall was down and the undead just kept going in one after the other, only then did she understand fear that radiated from Daryl. That was an emotion she never would have associated with him, even after knowing him for such a short time.

He ran to the bed and grabbed the radio out of his pack. Daryl's heart was beating a mile a minute as he fumbled with the knob to turn it on. "Rick, do you copy?" Nothing happened but static. "Rick…anyone do you copy!" While Daryl waited to see if anyone would answer him his trained eyes took in the chaos he saw surrounding Alexandria. If people were still alive inside, then then first step would be to close up that hole and how to do that he had no idea. Suddenly the radio came to life in his hand.

"Daryl, is that you?"

His hand slightly trembled as he pushed in the button to speak. 'Rick, man it's me. What the fuck happened? Where are you?"

"We're trapped inside Alexandria. The fuckin' wall is down and we are full of walkers. It's… good to hear you, bro. Where are you?" Rick clicked off so Daryl could speak. Relief flowed through Daryl. Rick was alive! Now he had to find out about the others.

"I'm at that piece of crap green house on the south side of the wall. The one I use sometimes. There are too many walkers around for us to even attempt getting inside. Man, what the fuck happened?"

'To make a long story short," Rick started, "A bunch of people got over the wall and tried taking everyone out. We lost several people. "

Daryl heard the radio click off from Rick's end, so he immediately spoke. "Fuck man, who did we lose?"

Rick said a silent prayer of thanks before he clicked in to continue. "We were lucky bro, it was none of us. It was about a dozen Alexandrians that got hit."

Daryl jumped back into the conversation. "Our group's okay?"

"We're as good as it gets. We got to get rid of these walkers and close up the wall. I'm gonna need your help with that." Rick had an idea and he would definitely need Daryl's help. His shitty day just got a helluva lot better. Finally hearing from Daryl, Rick knew they may just have a way out of this huge mess.

"What took the wall down?" asked Daryl. "Was it the herd?"

"It was our usual bad luck. The people that came in over the wall also had a semi that crashed into the wall by the clock tower. Spencer took out the driver, but crash cracked the wall of the tower. Between the crack and the walkers pressing up against it, it collapsed and took the wall out. Of course that waited until we were all back from the walker move so we're all stuck in here. It been a fucking mess ever since." It was killing Rick what a clusterfuck Alexandria had become. He hadn't told Daryl that one of the Alexandrians they had lost was Deanna, the town's leader.

"You can say that again. What do you need us to do? How can we fix the wall?" Daryl asked.

"You said us? Are you with Sasha and Abraham?"

"Ahh…No. When we hit the twenty mile marker away from Alexandria I took off on my bike to get back here to help. Their car couldn't keep up, but I had something come up on my way back, so I was …delayed. I sorta picked up a passenger and was bringing her back to join us." Daryl looked over at Dayna who had been listening intently to the whole conversation. "You haven't heard from Sasha or Abraham at all?"

"Not a word." Rick was worried about them. They were two strong and important members of their group. He ran his fingers of his hand through his hair in frustration.

Daryl clicked through on the radio. "That sucks. Damn…got any ideas on how to plug that opening in the fence, man?"

"Yeah, I do. The RV. That should be big enough to stop them from coming in, but there's a problem. " Rick said.

Daryl thought what else was new. Everything was a problem these days. "What's that?"

"The RV broke down on me. It's about half mile or so down the east road that leads to the gate. You'd have to get to it and see if you could fix it." Rick had confidence in Daryl. He was good with engines and Rick hoped this was not a major problem. He'd explain the bullet holes he sprayed down the one side another time.

"Okay, we'll go and check it out. I'll get it running, no matter what. Check back with you in about two hours. I'm gonna turn the radio off in the meantime to save power. Stay safe, bro." Daryl clicked off and before he powered the radio off he heard Rick.

"You too. Don't do anything stupid, man." Then Rick was gone.

Dayna had not taken her eyes off Daryl during the entire conversation. She watched him turn his attention back to her. "Hopefully, you know how to fix a car cause I sure don't." she told him.

"Yeah, I can," he absently said. Daryl had multiple things going through his head right then. They had to get to the RV, fix it and use it to block the hole in the wall all while trying not to get bit by any of the hundreds of walkers that were out there. Normally it would have been an easy job, but the walkers made everything ten times harder. However, he had something that they needed to do first.

Daryl turned back to the bed and rummaged through the backpack. He brought out a bottle of water for each of them and two small cans of Vienna sausages. "Before we head back out, we need to eat. That can of beans this morning sucked. This is at least more filling." He handed Dayna a can of sausages and a bottle of water. "Let's eat up and then we need to come up with a plan."

While they were eating Daryl ran a few ideas through his head. This is one of the few times he wished he had a car instead of his motorcycle. He knew Dayna didn't know how to drive one on her own, so they'd have to go on foot. All of the abandoned cars on the area were already siphoned of gas so hot wiring one of them was out. Dayna was the only wrinkle in the plan. He barely knew her and really didn't have a good gauge of her abilities when it came to walkers. She handled herself well on the way in, but would she fold under even more pressure? He hated putting the life of his friends in a stranger's hand, but at this point he didn't have a choice.

He walked out of the bedroom they were in, and went to a room on the other side of the house. It gave him a different view of the surrounding area. He still couldn't see the RV but at least the general area that led to it was visible. Daryl started to form a plan in his head. It would be a whole lot easier if Sasha and Abraham were here, but they weren't and he'd have to do this just with Dayna. He headed back to share his plan with her. He just prayed that she was up to the challenge.


	4. Chapter 4

Daryl and Dayna stood together at the front door. "You ready?" he asked her.

Dayna was too nervous to do anything else but nod. She had been in bad situations before, but nothing like this that that put her into danger on purpose. At least now besides the crossbow and knife, Daryl carried a handgun. That gave her a little more confidence.

"Just follow. We're heading to the yellow house on the corner. The back door should be unlocked. If we get separated head there." Daryl put his hand on Dayna's shoulder. "You can do this."

"We can do this," she replied. Daryl's touch gave her the confidence that she needed.

A moment later they were running between houses trying to evade the walkers that were aimlessly wandering. This was almost normal for Daryl, but not for Dayna. Her heart was in her throat the entire time. She was amazed on how easily he took out these creatures trying to kill them. Together they made it to the yellow house and Daryl made the split decision to keep on going. The amount of walkers between them and the RV that he could now see was minimal. It was a chance they had to take.

"We're heading straight to the RV, keep up!" he told her and they ran all out towards the old camper. Daryl's eyes quickly took in the undead bodies next to it that had been partially devoured by other walkers. Rick had to have been the one to take them out, that was until they turned. Three grotesque heads raised up from the ground in hunger. He shot one in the head with his crossbow, pulled the bolt and slammed it through an eye socket or another and finished the third with his knife. Dayna saw it as a beautifully choreographed maneuver, that's how smooth and easily Daryl took them out. Together they moved them away from the RV door and they jumped inside. The door slammed behind them.

It took them both a few moments to catch their breath. "Wow," was all Dayna could get out. Finally she added, "That was crazy!"

"Welcome to my world," Daryl said with a touch of sarcasm.

"What's next?" Dayna asked sheathing her knife. She wished she had a way to clean it, but they had more important things to get to first.

Daryl moved up to the front of the RV and sat in the driver's seat. "A miracle could happen and this piece of shit could just start right up, but I ain't holding out any high hopes." Daryl turned the key. The engine tried and tried but it just wouldn't catch. He stopped and tried again…same thing. Their usual bad luck was still working.

"Okay, I have an idea. This could be a simple fix, but I'm going to need to go out and check the engine. I need you to be my eyes. I can't look to see what's wrong and keep an eye out for walkers at the same time. You good with that?" he asked her. Daryl hated having to rely on anyone, but unless he grew another set of eyes, he couldn't do this alone.

"I've got your back, Daryl," Dayna told him. She knew that she'd do everything in her power to keep him safe. He had saved her life, a complete stranger. He fed her, watched over her while she slept and she owed him everything.

Daryl pulled his handgun out of his waistband. "Can you use a gun?"

Two years ago, Dayna had never touched a gun, nor would she even considered it. She wasn't an expert by any means, but she could use it. "Yeah, I can," she replied.

They both scanned the road and wooded area outside the RV through the darkened windows, and it looked clear for now. Daryl turned to Dayna. "Use the gun only if you have to. The noise will attract more walkers, so try to use your knife first. Ready?"

Dayna impulsively gave Daryl a quick kiss on the cheek. "Ready," she said with more conviction than she felt.

The kiss momentarily distracted Daryl. He silently shook it off and then opened the door and stepped out. Dayna was right behind. She was looking around for anything or anyone that would bring them harm. She followed behind Daryl and stood just off to his right as he opened the small hood of the RV. While he had his head inside looking at whatever guys looked at in there, Dayna kept a silent watch over him. She noticed a walker coming out of the woods across the road, so she walked over and took it out and hurried back to Daryl. He looked up from the engine and simply nodded at her. Dayna's confidence increased tenfold.

"Ahh," came from under the hood. "I think I found it. The fuel filter is clogged." Daryl knew he only had to get this piece of junk to run for a little bit, so he used the screwdriver he had in his back pocket so to clear out the filter the best he could. He put it back together and closed the hood. Dayna was taking out another walker, but there still was another that he wasn't sure she saw. He ran over to it and his blade easily slid into its skull. It dropped lifeless to the ground. Dayna looked at him with a surprised look. He knew that she hadn't seen that last walker. "Inside," was all he said to her.

"Thanks," Dayna said when they got inside. She was mad at herself for not seeing that last walker.

"You got my back, I got yours. That's how it works. I'm gonna try this again." Daryl sat back down in the driver's seat and turned the key. It took a little bit of coaxing and cursing from him but the damn thing actually started. "Hell yeah!" he said triumphantly. Daryl looked at Dayna and she was beaming ear to ear.

"You did it!" she exclaimed.

"Naw…we did ," he told her. "Now comes the hard part."

"What's that?"

"We need to move this sumbitch so it blocks the hole in the wall and make it out of there. That'll be the easy." Daryl knew she wasn't going to like what he was about to tell her, but he wasn't going to put her in any more danger than he had to. "I'll drive it up to the wall and fight my way out. You're going back to the house to wait for me."

He saw confusion then anger come across her face. "Wait a minute. You want to do this alone? What about us having each other's backs? I can't help you if I'm stuck in a house like a stupid porcelain doll. I'm not fragile Daryl, I can do this." Dayna was furious at him. She owed him everything, there was no way she would be there to help him.

"Look, this is going to be tough. Parking this heap will be easy, it's the getting out and away that will be tough. It'll be easier for me, if I just have to worry about me. If I have to worry about you, I'll fuck up. It's as simple as that. You're not coming with me." Daryl's dark eyes dared Dayna to think otherwise. This was the serious intimidating man she had first met. Had it only been twenty-four hours since that happened?

"But Daryl…" she started to say.

"No," was all he said. "Fucking no."

There was silence in the camper as Dayna tried to think of a way to reason with him. Only now did she notice the blood stained carpet and the multiple bullet holes in the side of the vehicle. Just as she was going to ask what had happened in here, a sound caught both of their attentions. A car was approaching. They both ducked down out of sight. Even though the RV's engine was running, they needed to bring the least amount of attention to themselves.

Daryl crawled up front to use the side view mirror to see who it was. A smile slowly spread across his face and he stood up. Dayna slowly followed his lead. He opened the side door to the camper as the car stopped right next door to it. He'd recognize that piece of shit car anywhere. "Took you two long enough to get back here," he drawled.

"We took the scenic route back," Abraham replied. "The scenic way through hell."

"Been there," Daryl laughed. "I could use some help, you guys game?"

Abraham looked over at Sasha and then replied with a smile, "Do bears shit in the woods, man? We're in."


	5. Chapter 5

Daryl quickly laid out the plan to Sasha and Abraham through the car window. He was coming up with it on the fly and they had only one shot to get this right. "Are you sure about this?" Sasha asked?

"If you guys have any better ideas, then spit them out, if not we gotta go with this. We don't have time to fuck around. "Daryl looked at Sasha and Abraham, "You good with this?"

"How does she play into this?" Abraham asked warily. Dayna felt a shiver go up her spine. She could tell that this red headed guy with the crazy mustache didn't like her.

"Without her I wouldn't have gotten this far, but Dayna can stay in the car with you guys. I just need help getting away after I park the RV. Can you do that or will I be doing this on my own? If you can't trust me, then get the hell outta here." Daryl knew he was overreacting, but he didn't need Abraham questioning him right now. That guy could be such a prick sometimes.

"Daryl, it's cool," Sasha told him while giving Abraham a dirty look. "You going to call Rick to tell him what's going on? Our radio is dead. "

"I'll make it quick. I wanna get this shit done." Daryl turned on the radio to let Rick know what was going on. It was a short conversation as time was of the essence. Daryl then turned to Dayna, "Get in the back of the car with them."

"I'd rather stay with you," she told him.

"You can't. I have to do this on my own. It'll be faster and I'll be fine," Daryl said with more conviction than he felt. If something could go wrong, it always did. That's how their luck ran.

"C'mon get in," Abraham told her. "We need to get this done."

Dayna left the RV and opened the back door of the car. She turned to look at Daryl before she got in and he gave her a little smirk. She smiled back before she got into the car with these strangers. That Daryl knew them was the only thing that allowed her to slide into the back seat alone.

The woman who was driving turned around. "Hi. I'm Sasha and this idiot is Abraham. Just ignore him, I do." She said with a kind smile.

"I'm Dayna and I will."

"Now that we've all been properly introduced, can we get this fucking show on the road," Abraham growled.

Sasha rolled her eyes and Dayna caught it in the rear view mirror. The corner of her mouth lifted in a small smile. "We need to wait for Daryl to head out first and then we slowly follow behind. We get there to soon it will mess up the timing."

Dayna watched out the side window with her eyes trained on the driver's seat of the camper. She saw Daryl sit down and immediately the beat up vehicle started to drive away. The plan was simple, Daryl would drive up next to the wall and push walkers out of the way with the RV until the driver's side covered the hole. He'll then jump out the door and try to get right into the car. Timing was everything and they needed everything to go right, they each prayed luck was on their side for a change.

No one in the car said a word as Sasha slowly followed behind Daryl. The amount of walkers by the walls was daunting. Dayna sent out a silent plea that the RV could get close enough to block the opening and that Daryl would make it out in one piece. He had become too important to her in such a small amount of time.

" _Dixon, what have you gotten yourself into this time_ ," he said to himself as he saw the size of this herd up close. " _This has gotta work, otherwise everyone inside don't stand a chance_." He knew that if this worked many lives were going to be saved and if he didn't make it back to safety, it was a cost he was prepared to make. He was no longer the self-centered, angry-at-the-world loser he was when the planet shifted sideways into chaos. Daryl Dixon was a better man.

Daryl pulled his head out of the clouds and back to the job at hand. He could see the opening in the wall was about one hundred feet away. " _That's a hell of a lot of walkers to get out of the way_ ," he thought. He worried that they would get caught up in the engine or lock up the tires. He'd seen it all happen before. The RV was slowly making progress, so Daryl took his eyes off the front for a second and looked into the right side view mirror. He saw Sasha's car coming up from behind. " _Good_."

He was almost at the break in the wall, so he pulled as close to structure as he could. When he was sure he had covered the hole, he threw the camper in to park. He stepped on the brakes twice to flash the lights to show them he was there and then he turned the RV off. Just before he headed to the door, Daryl took a quick glance into the Alexandria compound. " _Fuck, that's a lot of walkers_ ," he said to himself. " _Man, I hope Rick can take care of them_."

He shot out of the seat and grabbed his crossbow. In case he needed it, he didn't dare throw the strap of his shoulder. His reflexes needed to be sharp. Daryl looked out the RV's doors window and saw the car was almost at him. He waited until Sasha had it next to the vehicle and then he threw open the door and made a run for it.

In just seconds, the walkers were making it almost impossible for him to get even near the car. Dayna watched Daryl struggling to get to the door so she could swing it open for him, but he wasn't making any progress. Each walker he took out, two more took its place. Suddenly Dayna got an idea. "Sasha! Is there a trunk release lever? Daryl can't make it to the door, but maybe he can get into the trunk."

"Oh my god, I think so!" Sasha exclaimed. She put her left hand down trying to find the lever that she was certain was there. She fumbled for just a moment before her fingers found it. She pulled it up releasing the trunk. "Got it!"

All three heads turned to watch the hood of the trunk pop up. What felt like minutes were actually just seconds until they felt a thud in the trunk and the hood closed. Sasha was momentarily unsure what to do. "Was that…?" was all she got out when they heard him yell "GO!"

That was all Sasha needed and she got them the hell out of there as fast as the crappy old car could.


	6. Chapter 6

**I hope everyone is enjoying Restless. Feel free to drop me a comment or review. Thanks for reading!**

Dayna was emotionally and physically exhausted after everything that had gone on the last two days. Daryl almost getting caught by those walkers was the last straw. She just wanted to lie down and sleep for hours and hours and wake up to her old life. What she would give to be back in her condominium that she saved and saved for getting ready to head out to work. She wanted her old boring normal life back. Unfortunately that was never going to happen.

"That's the house on the left Sasha…the green one," Dayna told her in time before she drove by it, day dreaming when she should have been paying attention was always a problem for her. As soon as the car was parked, Sasha hit the trunk release lever to let Daryl out. Dayna jumped out of the car to make sure he was okay.

"Are you alright? Did any of them get you," Dayna asked. Without even thinking she started to run her hands all over Daryl as he emerged from the cramped trunk. Daryl pushed her hands away.

"I'm okay. Let's just get inside. C'mon." Daryl led the way into the house. One they were all inside, Abraham helped him move a loveseat in front of the door. "Let's go upstairs it gets us away from everything."

The sun was starting to set so the deep shadows upstairs were making the rooms much darker than before. It was a small house with only a kitchen, living room and tiny dining room downstairs and two small bedrooms upstairs. It was the closest thing to having his own place that Daryl had ever had.

"That was off the shitting charts, man!" Abraham exclaimed.

Sasha rolled her eyes at him again. "Let's not have to do something like that again. Daryl that was too close."

"You're telling me. Whose idea was the trunk, that was a great idea," Daryl asked. He was having a hard time standing still with all the adrenaline still rushing through him. Close calls like that always had him amped up.

"It was Dayna's," Abraham said. "She really came through." Dayna met Abraham's eyes and she was surprised at the acceptance she saw there.

"Thanks for thinkin' of that. I couldn't make it to the door," Daryl told her.

She put her hand on his arm and gave him a small smile. "Just glad I thought of it…hey you're cut on your forehead. We need to clean that. What happened?"

"Shit that musta been when I jumped into the trunk and closed the hood. The damn crossbow nailed me in the head. It's nothing," Daryl explained slightly embarrassed. "I better call Rick and tell him it's done." Daryl wanted to do anything to get the attention away from him.

He pulled the radio out of his shoulder bag and turned it on. "Rick, you copy?" When he didn't get a response he tried again. "Rick, you copy?"

It was several long moments until they heard, "Yeah, I'm here. Did it work?"

"Worked like a charm," Daryl said. "Got Sasha and Abraham here with me now too. They finally decided to show up." Dayna could see his eyes twinkling with amusement. Sasha punched him in the arm.

"What you want us to do next?" Daryl asked.

"We're going to need your help in taking out the walkers that we have inside, but to do that you need to get to us and the wall. How many walkers are left out there?" Rick wondered.

"Too many. Unless we get rid of them, we won't be able to get close to the wall," Daryl explained.

Abraham signaled for Daryl to hand him the radio. "Hey Rick, what if Sasha and I get their attention with the car again. We still have a few flares left that would get them going in our direction. Then we just lead their lazy asses away like we did before. The plan woulda worked fine except that fuckin' horn that had them breaking off. What the hell was that?"

Rick momentarily thought about Abraham's suggestion. It worked once, why not a second time? "Daryl can explain what happened. I think your idea is good, Abraham. You guys figure out the best way to get them to follow you like before. You know the route away from here. I don't think Daryl needs to go on his bike this time, but ultimately you guys figure it out."

Daryl took the radio back from Abraham. "We'll work out the details and do this tomorrow. We'll check back with you then, okay bro?"

"Be safe guys," Rick said before he signed off. Daryl turned off his radio too.

"What the hell happened yesterday?" Abraham asked Daryl.

Daryl turned and faced everyone. "The horn we heard that took away half the herd was from a semi that plowed into the wall."

"Oh my God," said Sasha.

"You better not be shittin' me man," said Abraham his eyes filled with fury.

" _If looks could kill_ ," Dayna thought to herself, " _Daryl had this idiot dead ten times over_."

Daryl ignored Abraham's comment with great restraint. He liked the guy, but he rarely thought before he opened his mouth. "A group tried to take Alexandria, but they fought them off. This was before anyone that was with the herd got back. Our group is okay, but they apparently lost some if the others. Before you ask, I don't know who. When the semi crashed, it hit the base of the clock tower and cracked it. When everyone but us were back, the tower finally fell and that's what took out the wall and the part of the herd that was outside of the wall went in."

"Talk about a clusterfuck," said Abraham.

"Now that the hole is closed, we need to get rid of the walkers on the outside and Rick will work on the ones on the inside. We'll take care of that tomorrow." Daryl fully intended on being part of the big move. He just needed to figure out what to do with Dayna.

The house was almost fully dark by now, since the sun and set. Daryl pulled his lighter out if his pocket and lit one of the candles on the dresser in the bedroom where they stood. The room glowed in eerie shadows.

"You got another one of those?" Abraham asked.

Daryl lit another and handed it to him. "It's early, but it's been a fuckin' crazy day. We should eat something and take it easy. We can plan tomorrow…early." He looked at Sasha and Abraham, "You guys need food?"

"I still have some left, we're good," replied Sasha. "What's the room across the hall like?"

" 'nuther bedroom," Daryl told her.

"Alright, good. Let's go big guy." Sasha took hold of Abraham's arm and together they walked into the other bedroom and closed the door.

Dayna who had been quiet this entire time looked at Daryl in surprise. "Well I didn't see that coming."

"Neither did I," said Daryl. "Neither did I."

Daryl doled out more of the food supplies he had stashed away to them both. He and Dayna ate lost in their own thoughts. After eating her share, Dayna got up and walked around the small room and stopped in front of a small dresser. She looked in the mirror that hung above it.

"Oh my God, have I looked this bad the whole time?" Dayna exclaimed. Daryl held in a laugh when he saw Dayna's expression. It was priceless.

"Ah...yeah. Neither one of us is looking to clean right about now," he said.

"But this!" Dayna used her hands to indicate her face. "Is…is disgusting!"

"Wouldn't go that far," Daryl told her. "Dirty…yes, disgusting… no."

Dayna opened the chest of drawers in front if her and tried not to let it get to her that it was filled with little kids clothes. She fished out a shirt and began to wipe her face with it. They didn't have any water to spare, but this would be better than nothing. Dayna rubbed her face and arms until they were as clean as she could get them. Then she took off her ball cap and let down her hair.

Daryl was watching her quietly from beneath his dark hooded eyes. He hadn't realized that she had that much hair hidden under the cap. It flowed half way down her back. Dayna opened another drawer, then another until she found an old comb. She used it to get out the snarls and tangles from her long hair. It reminded Daryl of the color of a chocolate bar…a soft brown. He had always loved brunettes. Suddenly he realized that the internal stirring of interest started to flow through him. It was something he hadn't felt in a very long time. He looked away from Dayna forcing himself to suppress any hint of emotion that he was possibly attracted to her.

Dayna was oblivious to Daryl's conflicting emotions across the room. She pulled her long hair back into a smooth ponytail and surveyed herself once more in the mirror. "That'll have to do," she thought.

The room was unnaturally quiet all of a sudden. "Is Rick family?" Dayna asked breaking the silence.

Daryl's serious eyes met hers. "He's my brother by choice, not by blood. "

"Do you have any family?"

"Not left I don't." Daryl didn't take his eyes off his pitiful meal of canned chicken. "What about you?"

This was the first time since they met that Dayna had time to get to know him. He intrigued her, yet confused her at the same time. "Not anymore I don't think. My sister…I just don't know cause she lives in Indiana My parents died in a car crash a few years ago. Looking back that was a blessing."

.

"How so?" Daryl asked. He finished the chicken and tossed the can aside. He couldn't believe people paid for that shit in the store. He had road kill that tasted better.

"They never had to experience this…this horrible world we live in. They wouldn't have made it and I wouldn't have been able to handle seeing them…turn." Once again facing that she was all alone in this world almost brought Dayna to tears, but she refused to let them fall in front of Daryl.

"My brother turned," Daryl said softly. "I…I took him out." The weight of the admission was always hard for Daryl to handle. He sat down on the bed, his head down in the despair that he rarely shared. It surprised him that he had done so with Dayna.

"Oh Daryl…"was all Dayna could say. The tears that threatened earlier now fell freely.

He looked up at Dayna and shook his head. "Don't cry for Merle. He…was a piece of shit human being and an equally shitty brother."

Dayna's sad eyes met Daryl's hard one. "But Daryl…no matter what, he was still you're brother. I don't know what happened between you two, but any way you look at it, that had to have been impossibly hard for you. I'm sorry you had to do that." She sat down next to him and simply laid her head on his shoulder.

That small gesture moved Daryl more than anything else could have. This stranger who he had met barely forty-eight hours ago understood him more than anyone else. He didn't need anyone making a big deal out it, even thought it was. Her head on his shoulder helped…more than she knew. They just stayed that way for several minutes, not talking, but finding comfort in each other.

"Tell me about Alexandria," Dayna asked softly.

"What do you wanna know?"

"Anything…everything," she told him, so Daryl talked about Alexandria. He told her about the houses and how they all had electricity and running water. Food was pretty plentiful, but the people were living in a bubble and how they were not ready to deal with what lay outside the fence. Reality had just smacked into them…big time.

"It's been a long day, maybe we should get some sleep. I'll go downstairs to the sofa, you stay here," Daryl suggested. The room only had one full size bed in it and Daryl was trying to be a gentleman.

"This is your house and you use this room. Don't go downstairs. We can share the bed." Dayna saw that Daryl was about to argue with her and cut him off. "Daryl, I'm sure that you didn't get any sleep last night and I did. Today was exhausting fighting off all those walkers. You need a good night's rest. Stay here…please."

He was a loner and wasn't used to being close to people either physically or emotionally, at least not since Beth. He said, "Alright," before he could change his mind.

Dayna scooted herself up the bed and turned onto her right side. She finally felt the bed dip behind her as Daryl lay down. She could tell he was laying as stiff as a board. "Relax," she whispered over her shoulder. "Just relax."

Daryl finally settled in and got comfortable. He kept his distance from Dayna even though she brought him comfort. It didn't take long for them both to fall asleep…together.


	7. Chapter 7

"No! Leave me alone! Stop!" Dayna cried out waking Daryl instantly from his sleep. He jumped off the bed with his knife in his hand seconds before Abraham burst through the door. The moonlight illuminated the room enough for them to see that there wasn't anyone else there. Abraham looked at Daryl.

"Hey man, don't look at me. I was asleep when she started yelling," he whispered.

Dayna started tossing and turning in her sleep, mumbling words they couldn't understand. "She's having a nightmare," Sasha told them. "We should wake her up."

"Let me," Daryl said. "She may be embarrassed if we are all here. She would expect me too, because …"

"Because you were sleeping with her?" Abraham smirked.

"We were just sharing the bed, douchebag. Sasha get him the hell out of here!" Daryl growled. Abraham was pulled from the room and the door closed quietly behind them.

Daryl walked around the bed until he was next to Dayna crouching down. As long as she didn't slug him, he figured he'd be okay. "Dayna, wake up," he tried. "Dayna, you need to wake up." He gently touched her arm and she shot up in bed gasping for breath.

She looked around the room wildly as she tried together bearings. "Hey it's okay," he told. "I think you were dreaming. You, okay?"

Dayna looked around the room wide eyed and realized where she was. She was safe in the house with Daryl. Her dream had her back in the camp that she knew was dangerous, but others in her group wouldn't listen. She went along with even though in her gut she knew something was off.

And it had been.

A few nights later her life changed drastically and they didn't all make it out of there alive. She hadn't had that nightmare in a while and it always left her shaken.

Dayna looked into Daryl's worried eyes and saw strength, safety and comfort. No matter what she knew she was safe with him. "It was just a bad dream, I'm sorry I woke you Daryl. I'm okay." She could see he wasn't convinced.

"Just bad memories popping up, that's all. I'm fine. They are already gone," she said with a forced smile. "Let's go back to bed."

"You sure?" he asked. Something wasn't right, but he didn't want to push it with her.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Dayna lay back down and curled up on her side, closing her eyes ending the conversation. She didn't want to talk to Daryl about what had happened to her, in fact she had told no one. It was something she lived with and had been dealing with for a while now. Occasionally the nightmares returned and she re-lived that horrible night. Maybe it was the fact that she was sharing a bed with a man that triggered or it could be the stress of the last few days, she wasn't sure. All she knew was that she knew she could trust Daryl not to hurt her. The rough biker she had only met yesterday she trusted implicitly and she didn't know why. It was just a feeling she had and she had learned to follow her gut. She doubted that she'd be able to fall asleep again, but she kept her eyes closed and tired.

Daryl walked back to his side of the bed and lay down on his back. He wondered what caused the nightmare that Dayna had. It was more like she was remembering something than just a regular bad dream. They didn't know each other well enough to talk about it. Hell, he didn't talk about that shit was anyone any way.

He stared at the ceiling for a while, not wanting to fall asleep until he knew she was okay. Daryl finally closed his eyes when he heard her gentle even breathing indicating that she had fallen asleep. It had taken a while, but she was finally out. Only then was he able to doze off too.

Daryl awoke the next morning just as the sun was starting to come up. It took him a moment to get his bearings as he wasn't used to waking up snuggled up to someone. He didn't remember stirring during the night at all and it was the first time in a long time he had slept that deeply. Yet, somehow during the night he must have rolled over and ended up spooning with Dayna. Daryl had never really ever found himself in this predicament before, so he was unsure on how to extricate himself. Not only was his right arm around Dayna, but she had her arm on top of his. The longer he stayed with his arm wrapped around the sleeping Dayna the faster his heart started to beat and he felt stirrings happening that could only prove to be very embarrassing for him.

Just as he was about to try to pull his arm away, Dayna turned rolling onto her back and slowly waking up. He didn't dare move a muscle. She gradually opened her eyes and smiled at him. There was no outrage, shock or screaming that would have brought Abraham and Sasha running across the hall. "Good morning," she said her voice still thick with sleep.

Daryl was still afraid to move. He didn't want to bring attention to the fact that his arm was still stretched across her. " _Idiot_ ," he said to himself. " _There's no way she can't notice, so just pretend it's no big deal_." Daryl looked over at Dayna and he felt the thumping in his chest speed up. "Mornin'," he replied back. "You okay, now?"

"I am," she said with a shy smile. "I felt very protected throughout the night…thanks to you. I haven't had that in a very long time. Thank you Daryl." Dayna sat up and kissed him on the cheek. Daryl felt the blush spreading across his face and thankfully Dayna didn't mention it.

"No big deal,' he said trying to blow it off. Daryl pulled back his arm and sat up. The sun was up by now and the room was filled with bright sunlight. "I hope those two don't sleep in, we have a lot to do today."

He couldn't have timed those words any better as just as he finished say them, the sounds of a very loud squeaky bed started to come from the other room. "I think they're up," Dayna said laughing. The more the bed squeaked the more Dayna laughed and as awkward as it was Daryl started to smile and finally he started laughing too. Dayna certainly took notice that when Daryl relaxed, his face was completely different. He was serious so much of the time that seeing him like this was like looking at a whole new Daryl…a Daryl that caused butterflies in her stomach. Dayna's smile was now for a completely different reason. Daryl unknowingly was starting to work his way into her heart.

"What's for breakfast? Dayna asked, her stomach starting to grumble. She needed to get her mind off he sex that was going on in the other room. Dayna swung her legs over the side of the bed and stretched as she stood up.

"Well the choice are getting slim…protein bar, protein bar and canned soup," Daryl replied. His stash of food was almost gone. "We're going to have to do a supply run soon or we won't have anything left."

Dayna walked over to where Daryl had their minimal choices of food out. "Protein bar," she said picking one up. She grabbed a second and tried to hand it to Daryl. "I'm good," he said waving her off.

"No, you need to eat. Take it." Dayna again tried to hand him the small protein bar.

"I'm. Good." He said more forcefully than he intended.

"Quit being stubborn and eat the damn bar. We'll find more food soon, but in the meantime you need your strength. So eat!" Daryl finally took the protein bar from Dayna and tore open the wrapper. He ate it in a couple of bites.

"Happy?" he said with his mouth full.

"Ecstatic," Dayna replied rolling her eyes. She wondered to herself why all men were so stubborn.

The door across the hall finally opened with Sasha and Abraham emerging. Daryl finished chewing and tossed the wrapper in the corner. "You ready to talk about today?" he asked them.

"Yes," said Sasha. She looked over at Abraham before continuing. He nodded to her to go ahead. "This is what we came up with. The big guy and I will take the car and try to lead the walkers away…again. We'll yell and use the horn anything to get their attention to follow us. You and Dayna can use the flare guns to keep them headed in the right direction. We figure it you guys get into that blue house with the porch along the road you can fire the flares from out of the top windows. Hopefully, then the majority will follow us down the road and away from here. You guys can stay and start taking out the stragglers until we come back."

"Fuck no," Daryl said. "I'm going with you guys. Just like before."

Sasha looked over at Abraham. "Daryl, we don't need you man," he said. "Sasha and I can do this. I'll take care of the slackers. Someone needs to start getting rid of the ones that are left so we can get into Alexandria. You …and Dayna can do that."

Sasha could see that Daryl wasn't convinced. "Daryl, we got this, we really do. Stay here and help Rick and the others."

Dayna had stayed quiet during the discussion as she knew this wasn't her call, but she preferred Daryl to stay with her. "It makes sense," was all she said.

Daryl knew it did even though he was fighting an internal battle. He finally caved. "Alright, I'll stay here, but I need you guys to do something for us on the way back. We need food and water. You'll need to get us a decent supply if we don't get into Alexandria for a couple days. My stash is 'bout gone."

"I know of a place that we can check out," Abraham said. "We'll get rid of these geeks and bring back food. All in a day's work," he added with a big grin.

Together they finalized the details of the plan. Everyone would go as far as the blue house in the car where Daryl and Dayna would jump out and get inside so they could send up the flares. Then hopefully the whole damn walker herd would get out of town. Daryl gave Sasha his extra radio battery so they could stay in communication. Then before Dayna knew it, the time had come again have to deal with the walkers face to face. She was glad that she was with Daryl. She knew he'd have her back and it helped her confidence in situations like this. She got the feeling that these guys did stuff like this all the time, but she had spent the majority of her time hiding or running. She fought only when she had no other choice.

"You ready?" asked Daryl looking at each of them. There was a resounding 'yes' from everyone. The guys moved the small sofa away from the door and after a quick, but thorough glance outside, they all made a dash for the car. Abraham made quick stop to fill up the gas tank from one of the extra gas cans they carried. Daryl stood watch.

Within a couple minutes they had made it to the blue house that was Daryl and Dayna's drop off point. Everyone wished each other luck and to stay safe, and then car drove off in search of walkers.

"I don't like not doing this, "Daryl grumbled as they made their way to the upstairs of the house.

"I got that the first two times you said that, Daryl," Dayna replied rolling her eyes. When they reached the top of the stairs, she put her hand on his arm. Daryl turned to her quickly, he wasn't used to people touching him. "Listen, I know I barely know you, but I get the impression that you like…no make that need to be in the middle of things, but they can handle it. There's a lot more that we can do here while they are relocating the walkers. We can start taking out the leftovers and I need you for that. I can't do it alone." Dayna could tell that Daryl was still fighting the fact that he wasn't going. "You brought me here. You told me about Alexandria, and I want to see this place, but as it stands now that place is going to cease to exist with your friends in it if we don't get this done. Sasha and Abraham can handle it, okay."

Daryl knew she was right. He was being stubborn about this and he had no idea why. "You're right, you're right." He turned and walked into the room that faced the street and pushed up the window. He could see the car moving very slowly. It was time to try this again. He waved to the car that they were ready. Dayna stood by his side. "Thanks," he said quietly to Dayna.

"No problem. Whenever you need a kick in the ass you can count on me," she answered with a smirk.

The corner of Daryl's mouth lifted into a small smile. "Not many people would volunteer for that job."

"You're a pushover, Daryl. You show that hard exterior, but inside you are just a softie." Dayna's observation of himself surprised Daryl. It was rare that anyone figured out that under his gruff exterior and his in-your-face way of dealing with shit, he was in fact a push over when it came to his group…his family. The honking of the car horn brought this attention back to the task at hand.

They could see the mass of walkers turning towards the noise and the slow shuffle of them following the car. Sasha had a nice speed going with the car, just fast enough to stay ahead of the quickly forming herd, but slow enough to keep them interested. Once they got past the house, Daryl fired off the first of the flares we were going to use to send as many as we could in the direction of Sasha and Abraham.

The two of them watched from the window as the spread out walkers all came together to become a herd with one intention, and that was to follow the car. Daryl shot off another flare to keep those towards the back moving ahead. As unpredictable as walkers could be in a herd they moved as one. Quietly they kept watch until the car was long out of sight and the majority of the walkers had moved out.

"Daryl, you copy?" came from over the radio.

"I'm here," he answered to Abraham.

"How does it look back there? Did they move their lazy ass's outta our town?"

"Yeah, they did. We're 'bout to head out to see what's left. Just keep those pricks moving," Daryl told them.

"That's what we are aiming to do. If we don't make it back tonight, we'll see you guys tomorrow. We're out." Abraham said cutting off the conversation.

Before Daryl could turn the radio off, Rick called out to him. "Daryl, you still there?"

"Yeah, I'm here. How goes it in Walkerland?"

"Sucks, bro. What's the plan?" Rick asked.

'Yeah, we're making good progress out here. The RV is parked by the wall, so no more can get in. Sasha and the prick are leading the rest out of town as we speak. Now we can start taking the rest out," Daryl told him.

"I see Abraham is being his usual dick self," Rick said laughing.

"You have no idea. Hey, how's it going inside?" Daryl caught Dayna's eye. They both noticed that Rick hesitated before he finally answered.

"I think now that the fence is closed we can start to make progress. This is gonna take a while and time isn't on our side. We can't get to the food pantry or ammo room." Rick sounded a bit dejected to Dayna.

"If we can't get to you guys tomorrow, then it'll be the next day. We're on our way, man." Daryl was doing his best to reassure Rick. It made Dayna wonder how bad was it actually inside the wall. "Don't want to run out of battery, so we're out. We'll catch you tomorrow. Stay safe, bro," Daryl told Rick.

"Back at 'cha. Out." When Rick signed out Daryl's heart sank. It was worse in there than he imagined. He'd been with Rick too long not to notice the desperation he heard.

"He sounds like he needs help," Dayna said quietly.

"They do. I can tell it's worse in there than I thought. When Sasha and Abraham are back we need to get inside or at least be able to start taking them out on the inside. They need us badly," Daryl realized.

"But we're only four people?"

"Yeah, but four strong people," he told her. Daryl ran his fingers through his long bangs, pushing them aside.

'No, three strong and me," Dayna said contradicting him. She knew her fighting skills wouldn't come close to matching theirs.

"You'll be as good as we are in no time. I'll help ya. Let's get outta here and see what we got left to deal with." Daryl grabbed his crossbow and headed down the stairs. Dayna followed behind not as convinced as he was to her skill level. When they reached the downstairs they both stood by the front door. Daryl put his hand on the doorknob, but before he opened it he said, "We're heading back to the other house, now's as good a time as any to practice. You take point."

"I was afraid you were going to say that. Are you sure?" Dayna asked not feeling very good about doing this.

"Yeah, I am. Don't worry I got your back. You can do this." With a smile Daryl flung open the door and they both took off at run. Dana got in plenty of practice on the way back to the small green house and Daryl had her back the entire time.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

It took the four of them almost two full days to take out the walkers that were left outside the wall. Dayna was completely exhausted at the end of each night. It was extremely mentally challenging having to be so aware of her surroundings the entire time. Physically every inch of her entire body was ached. It took strength and agility to kill these walking undead creatures and she wasn't used to doing it time after time. Single digit kills, soon turned into double digits and she lost count soon after that. Dayna did her best to try to keep up with Daryl, Sasha and Abraham, but she knew that they were so much better at this than she was.

Luckily for them Abraham had come through in finding them a good supply of food and water, so that was one less thing they had to worry about. Each night she fell asleep exhausted in the room she shared with Daryl. Nothing romantic or physical had ever happened between them, but they still slept together every night and woke up every morning cuddled together. Neither of them intended for that to happen, it just did. It was like their bodies sought comfort in each other by the simple act of them spooning together.

Each morning when they woke up neither Daryl nor Dayna acknowledged the intimacy of their positions. Daryl knew that he was attracted to Dayna, yet he was not ready to take it any further than friendship. He really did not know what a real relationship was like, as he never had one before and that was by his choice. It was a combination of his screwed up life before the turn and the fact that he never found anyone he wanted to be with for more than a few hours. He had dealt with women and sex on his terms, not theirs.

Dayna on the other hand was completely different. She had several long term relationships, but never with a guy like Daryl. He was the antithesis of the men she usually was attracted to. There was nothing white collar about him and even though that world never existed anymore it was his attitude, the tattoos and way he kept himself apart for the others that made him different. For reasons she could not understand it drew her to him like a moth to a flame. He intrigued her more and more every day and that combined to her physical attraction to him was enough to completely confuse her. No matter how she felt, she was not ready to act on those feelings right now, but that didn't stop her from trying to figure him out. She could tell his tendency to be a loner wasn't just with Sasha and Abraham…that was just Daryl. It didn't take a psychologist to see that he had a difficult past, even though he barely spoke a word about it. It may have been all the years working as an ER nurse that attuned her to people. Dayna had yet to tell Daryl or anyone what she used to do before the world turned upside down.

"Everyone ready?" Sasha asked as the four of them congregated in the living room of Daryl's safe house.

"Sure am, Sugar," Abraham replied with a smirk.

"Good then let's go," said Sasha. "And you," she said directly to Abraham, "Have business to take care of inside. Don't you forget."

"Yeah I know."

As they headed out the door, Dayna looked at Daryl confused. She had no idea what that conversation was about. Daryl mouthed to her the word "Girlfriend." Then it clicked for Dayna. Abraham had a girlfriend inside the wall and now he had Sasha. Dayna rolled her eyes at Daryl. No wonder she wasn't a big fan of the guy.

The group kept their eyes out for walkers as they made their way to the wall that surround Alexandria , but they had gotten rid of most of them during the last few days. Abraham carried a ladder that they had salvaged from another house. Together he and Daryl raised it against the wall and set it up on the opposite side that held a platform that was assessable from inside the wall only. They used them as a guard towers to keep an eye in what happened outside their community. Now they would use it in reverse. Daryl was the first one up the ladder.

"What do you see?" asked Abraham.

"A lot of fuckin' walkers... Shit." Daryl wasn't sure that Rick and the people inside had made any progress with the mass of walkers wandering around. He knew that was about to change as now with the four of them available to help, they would take back this compound. He knew they needed a plan, as they just couldn't walk in or they would be mobbed.

"What ya doing?" came from below.

"Thinkin'. Just a second," Daryl replied. They needed something to help take out walkers from up above that didn't involve guns or his crossbow. Those were in limited supply. Maybe if they had long pieces of wood, branches even, with spikes carved into the end they could start with that. This way they could be on the platform and kill those below. It was workable.

Daryl climbed down the ladder. Dayna could see the expression on his face was not good. "They need a lot of help. You should go up and take a look and see if you can come up with anything better than this. We can't climb down inside, we'll be overrun right away, so just like we did at the prison where we took them out through the fence, we'll take them out from the top down. We just need long wooden spikes that we drive down into their skulls. That should help make a dent, but you two," he said looking at Sasha and Abraham, "Should go up and check it out."

"Roger that," Abraham answered and quickly ascended the ladder. Sasha was right behind him. While they surveyed the compound Dayna touched Daryl's arm to get his attention.

"Is this really doable?" she asked him. "I know this has been your goal since the beginning, but be honest with me. Is this going to work out?" Dayna hated asking Daryl this, but her life was on her line here too. She'd been fighting to take back a place that was never hers to begin with. Was it worth it?

Daryl's head was down his eyes staring at the ground. He took a deep breath before looking over at her. He didn't say anything for a moment. He looked so sad to her and that tugged at her heart. Dayna reached up and brushed the hair out of Daryl's eyes.

"It's worth it to me. There are people in there that mean more to me than my own family ever did. I…won't lose them," he told her his voice soft yet deep.

"That's all I needed to know Daryl. Then it's worth it to me too," Dayna said with a gentle smile.

"Why would you risk it? You don't know us?"

"Simple. If it's that important to you, then it's the same for me." To Dayna it made perfect sense, but it confused Daryl. Dayna knew that she owed her life to Daryl when he rescued her the day they met, but also because the people inside meant so much to him. She wanted him to be happy.

"I don't understand… that shouldn't make a difference to you. You don't know those people in there." His right hand pointed at the towering wall.

"I don't, but you do. They're your family…so we protect the family. It's all we got, right? If they are important to you, then they are to me." Daryl was surprised on how well she understood this about him. Dayna didn't know that his own family never gave a rat's ass about him. He had been a punching bag for his father and had to withstand his brother's constant verbal abuse. Rick, Carl, Glenn, Carol and the others were the family he never had. They cared about him, trusted him and valued him, something he never received from his blood family. That's why he had to save them.

Abraham jumped down from the ladder startling Dayna for a moment. She had momentarily forgotten about him and Sasha. "You're right Daryl, that's gonna be the best way to take out the mass of shitheads surrounding the platform. Let's go get us some spears, people." Abraham agreed with the plan.

They all decided to search the wooded areas around Alexandria for long straight, sturdy tree limbs. Once they had found about a dozen, they would then sharpen them and get on with the business of killing walkers…again.

They split up into two teams and agreed to meet back at the wall when they found six good spears each. It didn't long for he and Dayna to bring back their share and Daryl had already sharpened the end for two of the spears when the other two arrived back. Dayna was more than happy to let Daryl use his big hunting knife to trim down the end of the wood into sharp points. Abraham jumped in and started working on the other pieces of wood. It didn't take the guys long to cut the ends into pointed spears.

"How are we going to do this?" Dayna asked.

"Carefully and quickly," Abraham responded. "I think Daryl and I should give it a try first and if it works as well as we hope then we all can get started killing these turds."

Sasha was about to disagree with him Abraham, but before she could say anything he simply said, "Sash, let us try it first." The fire that was flashing from her eyes quickly extinguished. Dayna had never seen Sasha be handled so easily. Even though Dayna had just met her a few days ago, she could tell that she was a spitfire with a mind of her own. Apparently Abraham had the magic touch when it came to calming Sasha. Dayna caught Daryl's eyes and he simply shrugged.

The guys each grabbed two spears and Daryl went up the ladder first, with Abraham right behind him. The sound of the walkers behind the wall intensified as they realized dinner was now staring down at them. Dayna and Sasha just stood quietly down below…waiting.

Daryl and Abraham moved out of the girl's sight as they repositioned themselves closer to the edge of the platform. Daryl laid one of the spears down. Then he grabbed the remaining one he had with both hands and looked around to choose a target. Dozens of hands reached up to him and in a split second decision he slammed the spear into a walkers head and as he was pulling it out, she went down like a rock. He did it again with the same success. Daryl looked over at Abraham and they both grinned at each other.

"Can't let you have all the fun," Abraham laughed and took out two walkers in quick succession with his spear. It was working.

"Well?" Sasha yelled up to the guys?

Abraham looked over the edge of the wall and down to the girls. He flashed them a huge smile, "Working like a fuckin' charm."

"I'm coming up," Sasha told him as she put her foot on the bottom rung of the ladder. She was itching to get this done so they could go back into the community.

"Wait," said Daryl. "We all can't fit up here. We need 'nuther ladder so we can use the other platform. Can you go see if you can find one?"

Sasha was not happy to be left out of the action. The last thing she wanted to do was go looking for a damn ladder, even though they really needed it. She was about to fire back a wicked retort to Daryl, when she caught Abraham's eyes. She instantly stopped.

"Daryl, I'll go with Sasha to get a ladder. You and Dayna can take them out from here and we'll use the other platform." Daryl looked at the big red head and nodded his agreement. Abraham climbed down and handed Daryl another spear before they left to go ladder hunting. Then Dayna quickly scrambled up to join Daryl.

The next couple hours they spent killing a many walkers as they could. The dead bodies were piling up at the base of the platforms making it harder to get to new victims. They would soon need to adjust the plan.

Dayna's arms were getting very tired. She tried to take out another walker, when the spear was pulled from her hands by the frenzied mob below. "Shit!" she yelled. "I lost the damn spear."

"I'll go get more from below," Daryl said. He handed Dayna his spear and was starting down the ladder before she could argue that she would go. Dayna turned back to the groaning mass below her and bent over to get a better look to see who was going to be her next victim. Just at that moment Daryl looked over at her before he dropped down below the platform level and saw her shapely butt right in front of him. He instantly got sidetracked and remembered how it felt each morning to wake up with her pressed up against him. His head wasn't on what he was doing so his next step down the ladder was off. His boot slipped on the metal rung and Daryl fell fifteen feet to the hard ground below.

 _ **Thank you for reading! Would love to know what everyone thinks of Restless.**_


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Daryl's body crashed down onto the hard pavement. The second he hit the ground he lost the ability to breathe as intense pain shot through him. He struggled to take in a deep breath through the agony and was finally reward with a few shallow ones. He couldn't speak or think, all he could do was lay there in pain grasping his left shoulder. "Fuck…fuck…fuck," finally he mumbled.

Dayna had heard the thud on the ground and her heart skipped a beat. She pulled the spear out of the head of a now dead walker and ran to the edge of the platform. "Daryl!" she cried out as she saw him writhing on the ground. Dayna dropped the weapon and scurried quickly down the ladder to him.

"What's going on?" bellowed Abraham.

"Daryl fell off the ladder!" she quickly retorted making her way over to him.

His face was pale with pain as he lay on the ground. Dayna's nursing skills instantly kicked in. "Where does it hurt?" she asked him.

"My…fucking… shoulder… I think it's dislocated," Daryl said through clenched teeth. Dayna could see that his right hand was holding onto his left arm.

"Okay, does anything else hurt?" she asked him.

"My hip, but not as bad as the shoulder... I landed on my left side." Daryl rolled slowly onto his back, the pain in his shoulder radiated throughout his entire body.

Dayna looked his shoulder and could clearly see the ball joint of his humerus was out of the socket. She knew he was in a lot of pain and she was going to have to relocate the joint for him. As a nurse she had seen it done multiple times and assisted, but never did it all on her own. It was usually a two person job. "This is what we are going to do," she told him in a quiet steady voice. "I'm going to support you from the back and help you sit up. Keep cradling that arm, it needs support. Then we'll get you to standing and back to the house. I'll put the joint back in there."

"You know how to do that?" asked Sasha.

Dayna was surprised when she heard Sasha speak next to her. She had been so intent on Daryl that she didn't realize that she and Abraham had come down from their platform. "Yes, I do. I used to be an ER nurse," she told them. Dayna placed her arm around Daryl's mid back. "I'm going to support you as you get up, okay?"

"Yeah," he replied quietly.

Dayna spread her legs a bit to give her better leverage. "On three…one…two…three." Together they were able to get him standing and she steadied him as he wobbled.

Daryl could not believe that he had been so stupid and careless to have fallen off that damn ladder. " _Fuck me_ ," he thought to himself as he waited to get his bearings. " _That's what I get for thinking she has a hot ass_.

"Why didn't you help them?" Sasha said to Abraham.

"She looked like she had it under control. She's a nurse." Abraham turned to Dayna. "Why didn't you tell us you were a nurse?"

"No one asked," she said not looking him. Daryl was her main concern. His color was a little better, but his eyes were still full of pain. Dayna's heart went out to him. Dislocated shoulders were extremely painful as his joint, ligaments and tendons were all pulling the wrong way. "Are you able to walk back to the house?" Daryl gritted his teeth and nodded yes.

"Can you guys cover us?" Dayna asked Sasha and Abraham. There was no way she could help Daryl back and look for walkers at the same time.

"Absolutely." Sasha said instantly. "You guys lead and we'll take care of anything else."

Dayna was grateful for their help. It was one less thing to worry about. Daryl's shoulder was bad enough. She kept her hand on his back as they slowly made it back to the house.

The pain was excruciating. Daryl didn't remember anything else ever feeling this painful. He was sure the time he fell and ended up with an arrow in his side was just as bad, but right now all he could do is think about his shoulder. Maybe if he'd stop falling, shit wouldn't keep happening to him. He didn't say a word as they all headed back to the house. It was comforting to feel Dayna's hand on his back during the long walk, because each time he looked at his shoulder, his stomach rolled.

The group made it back to the house safely. Dayna immediately started to try to figure out where was the best place for her to fix Daryl's shoulder. She needed a flat hard surface and once she saw the old kitchen table she knew that was going to be it. She took control like she did with her staff in the emergency room.

"Sasha, go upstairs and bring down two sheets. I may only need one, but I rather have another handy. Grab a small pillow while you are at it too," Sasha ran immediately up the stairs.

Dayna turned to Daryl. "Okay, I'm going to have you lie on the table as soon as Sasha's back, but in the meantime I want you to understand what we are going to do." Daryl nodded that he was listening to her. "I'll need your left shoulder on the edge of the table. I'm going to use the sheet as a counter balance to me. Abraham, you'll need to help me with this."

"Whatever you need," he answered her.

"Daryl, look at me," Dayna said softly. He brought his pain stricken eyes to hers. "I'm not gonna lie, this is gonna hurt like a son of bitch, but once the joint is back in place you'll feel much less pain than you do now.

"You really know how to do this?" he asked, his teeth clenched together in pain. .

"Yes, I do. Trust me." Dayna's confidence came easily through to Daryl. He knew he could trust her with anything. He no longer doubted her at all.

Sasha ran down the stairs with the supplies Dayna had asked her to get. "Okay, take a sheet and fold it so it's about eight inches wide. We need to wrap is around Daryl's chest when he's on the table so that Abraham can hang onto the two ends while I pull Daryl's arm. Understand?" Dayna said trying to explain what she needed.

"Got it!" Sasha quickly had the sheet ready and on the table. Dayna was impressed, some of her nursing staff hadn't been that quick to pick up instructions.

Dayna turned to Daryl again. "It's time for you to get on the table. I'll help you lay down so that you have support for that shoulder. Abraham, can you stand on the other side to help?"

"I can do this," Daryl grumbled. "I'm no damn invalid."

"This is not the time to have an ego. We're doing it my way…no arguments." Dayna stared at Daryl and he knew that he had met his match. He didn't say anything but moved over to the table and sat on it. Dayna made sure that she sheet was in the correct position and motioned for Daryl to lie down. She supported his back with her right hand and his shoulder with her left. She quickly tucked the pillow under his head.

Once he was flat on the table, Daryl closed his eyes as a lightning bolt of pain shot through this shoulder. Gravity was fucking with the joint and he tensed every muscle he had trying to stop it, unfortunately that had made it worse. "Sumbitch!" he mumbled.

"It's almost over Daryl," Dayna whispered in his ear. "I know it's hard, but you're going to have to relax the arm and not fight me." His eyes met hers and she knew that he would try. "Okay, Abraham when I start to pull on his arm, you need to counter the pull so he doesn't go anywhere. Got it?"

"Got it."

Dayna mentally went through the steps she had seen down countless times in her head. She knew she could do this…she had to. Dayna pried off Daryl's right hand from holding onto his left arm. She supported the arm and shoulder with her left. Slowly she moved the arm out so it was at a right angle to his body and it was straight. Dayna looked at Abraham and nodded. She began to apply gentle traction to the arm by pulling on the wrist. Abraham was pulling steadily on the sheet to counteract the traction. Dayna slowly applied more pressure her eyes never leaving Daryl's face. His eyes were closed and only indication that the pain was worse was the tightening of his lips. Dayna was waiting for his muscles to relax so the joint would pop back in. Suddenly she felt it slip back into place and the tension that had flowed throughout Daryl instantly diminished.

Abraham had been watching Dayna the entire time, so he could take his cues from her. He saw the smile start on her face and he knew that the shoulder was back in. They both eased up at the same time.

"It's back in Daryl. How does it feel?" she asked him.

It's sore, but the goddamn pain is mostly gone." Daryl sat up and slowly moved his shoulder. "Yeah, it's a bit tender."

"I knew a couple guys that this happened to. Took them a while to get full use back," Abraham said.

"I'm good," stated Daryl. "Let's get back to it." He stood up and swayed for a second. His body was telling him to rest and his head had him taking out walkers right away.

"No! No way," Dayna said putting her foot down. "You can't use that shoulder for a couple days at least."

Daryl's' eyes narrowed and he was about to argue with her when Dayna interrupted him. "No! Don't even try to argue with me because you won't win. We don't have ice or painkillers for you and with all the stress that joint went under today it is going to swell and be very sore. You'll need to wear sling to support it or chance permanent damage to it. That's not going to happen on my shift…err my watch…shit. It's just not gonna happen, Daryl." Even though Dayna slipped back into hospital mode there for a minute she stood right in front of Daryl not backing down.

Sasha quietly tore the sheet she still held so they could make a sling for Daryl. She didn't dare look at Abraham or she knew he's make her laugh. Not many people stood up to Daryl and Abraham was getting a kick out it she knew.

Daryl sat on the edge of table still holding his arm but not taking his eyes off of Dayna. The corner of his mouth lifted into a smirk. "It that how you treat your patients?" he grumbled.

"Only the stubborn ones," she retorted. Dayna put her hand out and Sasha gave her the makeshift sling. She folded it so it could support Daryl's arm, then she put it on him making sure the knot was secure.

"Thank you," Daryl said softly to her. "I'm sorry I gave you a hard time." He was madder at himself than anything else. This was a careless accident that he had no one to blame but himself.

"You're welcome. I told you whenever you needed a kick in the ass, I'd be more than happy to help. You needed a kick and I helped." Dayna smiled at him, before turning to Sasha. "I'm hungry, let's see what left to eat."

"Good idea. I'm starving too." Sasha and Dayna headed to the kitchen to check their supplies.

Daryl sat down on the sofa and Abraham chose the chair. "So how'd you fall off, dude?"

"You don't wanna know, man. You don't wanna know," Daryl sighed resting his head on the back of the cushions.

A big grin came across Abraham's face. "It was her ass right? You looked at her ass?"

Daryl just bursting out laughing. "You nailed it, man. Took one look and I was a goner…in more than one way." They laughed together for a minute. " _It was nice to be able to do that again_ ," Daryl thought to himself. He hadn't laughed being one of the guys in a long time. It made him miss the group inside Alexandria even more. Now that he was sidelined for a bit, he hoped that didn't hurt the people still left inside. He had screwed up and he hated having to tell Rick.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Dayna and Sasha walked back into the living room with an assortment of food for them to eat. They were all getting tired of the canned cold food. It took the edge of the hunger off, but that was about it. Sasha handed Abraham a can and sat on the floor at his feet to eat hers. Dayna joined Daryl on the couch. He was just putting the radio down.

"Was that Rick?" Dayna asked handing him a can of beef stew and a fork.

"Yeah. Told him what happened, but also how much progress we made today. He said that they can see a difference inside. They may try and make a run for the food and ammo pantries in the morning. I'm not sure they have any choice, they're starving in there and here I go and be stupid and fall of that fuckin' ladder." Daryl laid his head back in frustration. He hated making mistakes and this was a big one.

"Shit happens, man," Abraham said in between bites.

"You can say that again," Sasha added. "If something is going to go wrong for us, it will. This group has no luck at all." Sasha felt the mood in the room drop. Her statement was true as anything that could go wrong for them always did, but she regretted saying it. "So Dayna, you were always a nurse before all of this?" she asked changing the subject.

"Pretty much so. After high school I floated around for a bit, before heading to college and got my Bachelors in nursing. I was a nurse for about eight years before all this happened. I've been in the ER for the last three," she explained.

"Did you like ER?" Sasha finished her cold dinner and placed the can off to the side. She stretched her legs out in front of her, before pulling then back to sit crossed legged. She was sore from today's hard work.

"I loved the ER,' Dayna said with a smile. "I loved the fast pace, the instant decisions we had to make and the crew I worked with. They were a good bunch. I miss it. What about you guys, what did you all do?" Dayna looked around the room at everyone.

"I was army," said Abraham as he clinked the spoon against the side of the can trying to get every morsel out.

"That I can totally see," laughed Dayna. "What about you Sasha?"

"I was a firefighter," she said matter-of-factly.

"Really?" asked Dayna surprised. "That is so cool. Female firefighter…I just love it. Was it a big boys club there?"

"Hell yeah, but they eventually let me in. My house was a good group of guys." Sasha took a moment to remember the crew she had worked with for two years. They had been her family too.

While the girls talked Daryl stayed quiet. He had his can of food propped against him with his left hand so he could eat with the right. He tensed, as he knew that Dayna was going to ask him what he had done next. Here she was having done something useful and productive, hell she took care of sick people, even fixed his fucking shoulder and he was a nothing…an absolute nothing.

 _God how he hated that question_. It just reminded him of what a loser he had been before the turn. He was a better man now than he had been. _That's what counted, right?_

"Daryl? What about you?" Dayna had been very curious to learn more about him. They slept in the same bed every night, ended up cuddled together each morning, yet what she knew about him could fit into a thimble.

"What?'

"What did you do before?" Dayna looked over at Sasha who simply shrugged her shoulders. Daryl never talked about himself so even she didn't have any idea what he had done before the world went to hell.

"Nothing," was all he said not looking up.

"C'mon everyone did something," Dayna said trying to push Daryl to open up. "What was it?"

"I didn't do a damn thing. I hung with Merle, we got in trouble, drank and didn't do shit." Daryl's voice was low and hard.

Dayna realized that she may have pushed him too much. Why did she have to do that? What he did or didn't do was none of her business. She just wanted to have some normal conversation for a change. "Well that's a little bit of something," she smiled trying to lighten up the tension she created. Changing the topic would help…big time. "Can you guys tell me about your group inside Alexandria? Daryl hasn't been very chatty about them. I'm curious?"

"Daryl ain't chatty 'bout much," Abraham laughed. He caught Daryl's eyes and smiled even bigger at the daggers that Daryl's eyes were throwing at him. "You know I love ya, man."

"Fuck off, Ford," Daryl growled.

"Boys, play nice now," Sasha said reprimanding them. She knew better than anyone how Abraham could easily push the wrong buttons. She flashed him a shut-the-hell-up-look and rolled her eyes when he gave her a big grin instead. He'd pay for that later.

Sasha turned her attention back to Dayna. "There are twelve of us plus Judith. Rick's our leader, but no matter what anyone else tells you, he's in charge." Sasha saw Dayna looking confused for a minute. "Alexandria has Deanna, who's like the mayor of the community, but Rick's the one that we follow. Most Alexandrians don't know what it's like out here, but we do and they are finally listening to us. Anyway, we all joined this group at some point. We've lost some and added some. Daryl, who are the original people?"

This was something he was comfortable talking about. "Rick, Carl, Glenn, Carol and me. Carl's Rick's kid… as is Judith. She's a baby."

"Rick has a baby? Oh my god, how old?" a surprised Dayna asked. Babies were not common now.

"She's not walking, yet but close," Sasha answered. "Then we have Maggie who's now Glenn's wife. They are a post-apocalypse love story. There's Michonne and me. My brother Tyreese was with us for a while, but he didn't make it. "

"I'm so sorry Sasha. Was he like you?" Dayna knew so many people had lost loved ones during the crazy world that now existed.

"Hell no," Daryl said. "Nothing alike."

Sasha had a sad smile. "Tyreese was a gentle soul. This world was too tough for him."

"This world is tough for anyone," Dayna replied. She caught Daryl looking over at her and gave his knee a squeeze.

"Okay, where was I? Oh yeah…Michonne, me and then Tara came after we lost the prison."

Before Sasha could continue Dayna said "Prison?"

"Yeah, we stayed in a prison for a while. That's too long of a story for now. Then after that we hooked up with Abraham, Eugene and Rosita." Dayna could tell the way Sasha said "Rosita" that she must be Abraham's girlfriend. Even when the world turned sideways and the dead roamed the earth, there was still relationship drama.

"Is there any type of medical care there?" Dayna wondered how she could contribute to this group. Her medical background worked in her favor.

"We had a doctor, until Rick killed him," Daryl said.

"What?" Dayna exclaimed. "Rick killed the doctor? What are you guys getting me in to?" Dayna was instantly nervous. A guy that she didn't know and they looked up to killed the doctor? What type of place was this?

"Daryl!" Sasha yelled. "You just can't say that and not explain it.

"Yeah, that didn't come out right. It's not as bad as it sounds, well it is, but…oh fuck…you tell her Sasha. You were there." Daryl threw up his one working arm in frustration. "I can't get shit right today."

"Basically what happened was this…" Sasha went on to explain to Dayna about Pete the doctor. She went into detail on how he was abusing his wife and kids, he was drinking too much and how he killed Reg, Deanna's husband by slitting his throat on front of everyone. He was out of control and Deanna told Rick to do it, so he did. It had to be done. Anyway…we have Denise now. She's not a confident doctor, I think she was a psychiatrist previously, but you would be so much better than her."

"I'm only a nurse, she's a doctor," Dayna reminded them.

"She's a shrink," Abraham stated. "Anything she learned about doctoring she forgot. She's always looking shit up in books."

"Well maybe we can work together." Evening had come and Dayna noticed that Daryl was looking more tired than usual. "I think I'm going to call it a night. Today was very tiring."

"Good idea," Abraham said standing up. He reached out his hand to help Sasha up off the floor and in a quick move tossed her over his shoulder. She squealed her surprise. "I'm taking my firefighter to bed. Later."

Sasha lifted her head up as Abraham started up the stairs. She flashed Dayna and Daryl a huge smile before she disappeared out of view.

"Just don't get those two," Daryl thought out loud.

"Neither do I." Dayna stood up looking down at Daryl. "You coming up? You look tired."

"Yeah, shoulder's aching like a bitch." Daryl stood up slowly. Once Dayna was sure that he was steady, she turned to head towards the stairs, but he grabbed her arm first. "Hey, thanks for fixin' my shoulder. I don't know what I would have done if you weren't here." Daryl leaned in and gave her a gentle kiss in the cheek. It surprised Dayna as much as it surprised Daryl.

"Just glad I could help," she said smiling at him. "Let's go up."

Silently Daryl followed behind Dayna. The corner if his lips pulled into a smile as again her perfect rounded butt was staring him in the face as they went up the stairs. It had already gotten him in big trouble once today, he had to be careful not to repeat that. One major fall a day was enough.

The room was dark with only the glow from the moon coming in through the small window giving them a small amount of light in which to see. Dayna sat down on the bed first and looked up at Daryl. "You're going to have to sleep on your back or right side. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help get you comfortable. You can take off the sling while you sleep."

She didn't let her sadness show. Since there was no way he could sleep on his left side the way he usually did, he wouldn't be able to sleep up against her like they ended up every night. Dayna had come to treasure these nights.

"Let me see what's gonna work," Daryl told her. He sat down, slipped the sling off and slowly tried laying on both his back and side. It seemed the side worked better. Dayna tucked a thin pillow under his arm for support and then she lay down on her back. After a little while Dayna knew that Daryl was still awake. It took all her courage to roll over so that she was spooning him. She wrapped her arm gently around him.

"Daryl?"

"Yeah?" he murmured.

"You're not nothing, not by a longshot. To me…you're my something," she whispered lightly.

"Thanks," he said his voice deep with emotion. Then he drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face. It was nice to be her something.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Daylight slowly filtered into the bedroom where Dayna and Daryl slept. It was rare for him to sleep past sunrise, but this day he did. Too little food and sleep combined with exhaustion his body felt after yesterday had him sleeping in for a change. Daryl slowly opened his eyes, but he remained still. He didn't want to disturb Dayna who still slept cuddled up next to him with her arm around his waist. This was no accidental meeting of two bodies during the night seeking warmth or comfort… Dayna fully initiated it.

Typically it was the other way around, he ended up curled around her. The first night was a fluke. He woke up and couldn't believe how they were together. It had to have been his fault because he was curled around Dayna. That was that first time he ever spent the night with a woman and wasn't looking to sneak out first thing. It felt so natural to him and that surprised him. He liked it so much that each night he pretended that he'd roll over next to her and it was accidental, when in reality he did it on purpose.

Maybe it was finally the right time for him or maybe he realized how quickly everything could change, but he wanted to get close to someone. He was thinking that Dayna could be the one. He felt an attraction to her that he hadn't felt with anyone else not just in months, but in years. Dayna was different from him and that's what he needed…different.

As Daryl's thought's wandered, he felt Dayna started to stir. She removed her arm from around him and he immediately felt its loss. Dayna rolled onto her back and stretched. "You awake?" she murmured.

"Yeah," he replied slowly rolling onto his back. Damn, the shoulder still throbbed the minute he lay flat.

"It's hurting, right?" she asked. Without waiting for his answer, she sat up and took the pillow that had been propped under his arm and repositioned it. "Is that better?"

"Oh yeah, that helped." Daryl turned his head to look at Dayna. He was relaxed for a change and let his thoughts wander where they normally didn't go. She was pretty, really pretty. He liked how she stood up to him now and didn't back down. Plus her body felt just right next to his. He wasn't sure though that he could chance taking the next step. For now this had to be enough.

Dayna repositioned herself on her side so she could see him better. "Sleep well?"

"Better than I have in a long time, even with this damn shoulder. I don't usually sleep this late." Daryl felt his face soften into a smile. He couldn't help it. "Thanks for staying with me last night…it was nice."

Dayna's heart skipped a beat. She felt like she and Daryl had made progress in this weird relationship they had. She wanted more from it…more from him. "I've enjoyed our nights together…" Dayna started to say, but a pounding on their door interrupted their quiet moment.

"Dayna get your ass outta bed, we got work to do," yelled Abraham.

"I'm gonna kick his ass," Daryl said struggling to sit up. Not being able to use his left arm made it harder than it should have been.

"No you won't. He's right. It's later than we normally start," she told Daryl. "I'll be right out. Just fixing Daryl's sling."

"So that's what they call it now," Abraham laughed. Dayna blushed immediately even though they couldn't see her. "Oww! What'd you do that for?" they heard him say.

"Because you don't know when you leave well enough alone you big lug," Sasha reprimanded him. "Meet you downstairs!"

"Okay!" Dayna got up from the bed and went to find Daryl's sling. She purposefully wouldn't meet his eyes. Even though they didn't do what Abraham thought they did and Dayna wanted to take the next step with Daryl, it was still embarrassing for her. Sex was never anything she flaunted.

She picked up the sling off the floor and refolded it. She turned to Daryl and met his eyes. The old Daryl was back...the one that was serious all the time. "Here, let's get this on you."

"I really don't think I need it," he grumbled.

"You do. That shoulder will take a couple days to heal. You're on the sidelines mister." Dayna could tell that Daryl didn't like what she was saying. "I'll reevaluate it tomorrow, but today you're out of commission."

"What the fuck am I supposed to do all day," he whined. Daryl hated not having anything to do. He couldn't even work on his bike or clean the crossbow with one hand. This sucked.

"You could read a book...watch TV, I don't care, but you aren't killing walkers today." Dayna felt like she was talking to a kid. She just shook her head at him in frustration.

Daryl couldn't help but smirk at her. Riled up she was just too cute. "Watch TV, really? How am I supposed to do that?"

"You know what I mean!" Dayna exclaimed. She threw her hands up in the air before opening the door and walking out. She heard Daryl laughing as she ran down the stairs. "Sorry," she said to Sasha and Abraham. I'm almost ready."

While Dayna made sure that she had everything that she needed, Daryl made his way downstairs. He had left his crossbow upstairs and it left like he was leaving a part of him behind. "I may not be able to take them out, but I can at least be there." Dayna looked at him suspiciously. "I'm not bringing my crossbow. If I stay here I'll go fuckin' crazy, so I'm comin'."

"Fine," Dayna told him. "But I'll be watching you."

Before Daryl could say anything else, the radio he had turned on before coming down the stairs crackled to life. "Daryl, you copy?"

"I'm here, Rick. What's up?" Everyone gathered around Daryl to see what Rick had to say.

"Just wanted to warn you that if you hear gunshots, it's okay. We were able to get to the armory and we are going to be able to make a big dent in walker population in here. You guys keep doing what you can from the outside." Rick's news was good to hear. They all knew that sooner rather than later they all be back together and Alexandria would eventually be safe again.

"Thanks for the heads up. We're about to head to the wall now. We don't have much battery left, so I'm making this quick. I'll check back in tomorrow morning. Good luck." Daryl released the talk button on the radio. Rick agreed to talk the next day and signed off.

"How much more do we have to go until we can get back in? "Sasha asked.

"Not sure," Daryl said. "It'll depend on what they get done inside. Two …maybe three days?"

"Let's hope they can take out a lot of them today. I'm more than ready to get back to everyone," Sasha sighed. This had been a long few days for her. The stress of leading the walkers away not once, but twice was enormous. Now everything was complicated by the change in her relationship with Abraham. He was loud, obnoxious and a pain in the ass, but he had worked his way into her heart. The only complication was Rosita. Sasha felt bad that they had to hurt her, but they couldn't help the way they felt. She knew it would cause strife within the group, but it couldn't be helped. The heart wants what the heart wants.

"Let's go," Abraham said, waking Sasha from her daydreaming.

They all left the house and headed towards the wall when they heard the gun shots start. It varied from the automatic weapons they had to the single shot pistols. The gunfire was still going strong by the time they reached the ladders that led up to the platforms. No one said anything for a while as they listen for signs of what was happening inside. Abraham was the first to speak. "I'm going up to see what it looks like. With all of the gunfire going on, I don't want all of us up there until I get a sense of what's happening." He could see that Sasha was about to argue with him. "Sash, no. It doesn't make sense for all of us to be in danger until it can be checked out. I'm just going to go up and look around." Abraham turned to Daryl for support. "Am I right, Daryl?"

"He is. Let him check it out and then we can decide what to do." Daryl wished he was the one going up, but he knew that with one arm out of commission Abraham was the better choice.

Before there could be any arguments, Abraham quickly climbed the ladder and temporary disappeared from site. A couple minutes later he rejoined Sasha, Daryl and Dayna. "Well?" asked Sasha.

"Looks like the gunfire attracted the walkers. I don't see any here at all, but I can see them in the distance by the houses…so I got an idea. There are too many dead ones piled up around the platforms, making it a bitch to get to the ones we need to take out. I'm gonna go down the ladder while they are distracted and move the bodies out of the way. This way we can get to more of those fuckers," Abraham explained. It really made perfect sense, as it was harder to reaching the walkers they needed to kill.

"Shit," said Daryl. "I should be down there with you." Once again he was kicking himself for yesterday's careless fall.

"I'll go with Abraham," Sasha volunteered. "It will go faster with two of us. Daryl you and Dayna can be the lookouts for us. We'll scrambled back up top if you see a bunch of walkers coming, otherwise we can take out the stragglers. Okay, Abraham?"

"Sounds good to me. Let's get moving before they decide to come back."

While Daryl wasn't happy that he couldn't help down on the ground, he would at least be able to do something. Scouting was better than doing nothing. He was the last one up the ladder and climbed slower than usual since he only had the use of one arm. Abraham and Sasha took a quick look around and then they quickly descended to start moving bodies. Dayna concentrated looking to the left for walkers and Daryl to the right. It stayed pretty clear for a while as the distant gunfire kept them occupied elsewhere. They were able to make significant progress in moving the walkers away from one of the platforms before stragglers starting moving in. The gunfire had ceased for a little while by then.

Sasha used her knife to take out the few walkers that were starting to return, while Abraham kept dragging the bodies out of the way. Once the ground below the platform was cleared, Sasha and Abraham climbed back up to rest. Dragging that many bodies away into piles was extremely tiresome. Occasionally a walker came up to the platform and Dayna would take them out with a spear.

Eventually the gunfire started again, so they began the process all over again at the second platform. By midafternoon, they were ready to take on the masses again, except all they saw were handfuls of the undead that were easy to dispose of. It looked like there had been significant progress made inside, so after a couple hours and with minimal kills they all decided to head back to the house.

Sasha and Abraham were exhausted after all the physical work, so after everyone ate they went up to bed earlier than normal. That left Dayna and Daryl by themselves and as much as Dayna tried she just couldn't get Daryl to talk much. She felt like he was closing himself off to her and she had no idea why. Darkness had fallen and since Daryl wasn't talking and there was not anything she could do in the dim candlelight, she decided to head up and go to bed.

Dayna stood up from the chair that she was sitting in. "Hey, I'm going up." she told Daryl. "It's been a long day."

"For some," he mumbled.

Dayna barely heard his answer her. "What did you say?"

"Okay…I'll be up later," he told her. Daryl watched Dayna slowly go up the stairs. He knew he was being a dick, but he didn't know why. He started biting his right thumb nail. It was a nervous habit he had since he was a kid and something he had never outgrown. Something had changed today and he didn't know what or why. Maybe it was because he felt helpless out there today or maybe it was just his screwed up head, but he didn't want to talk…he didn't want to be around people…he needed to go off on his own when he got this way. Dayna hadn't done anything wrong and she didn't deserve the cold shoulder he was almost giving her. This morning he had enjoyed walking up next to her again, their bodies close together, but suddenly he needed his space. He knew he was being a jerk to her, but fuck it.

After a little while, Daryl lay down on the sofa and tried to go to sleep. He was still there when the sun came up the next morning not having slept a wink.

Dayna stayed awake the whole night too, wondering what she had done wrong. Once she realized that Daryl wasn't coming to share the bed with her the way he had done the five nights or so, she wracked her brain trying to figure out what had changed. She still had tears in her eyes when the sun came up.


	12. Chapter 12

Dayna was walking down the stairs, determined she was not going to acknowledge that Daryl chose not to spend the night with her. She had decided that she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of seeing how that upset her. She knew they hadn't made any commitment to each other nor even talked about being together, so she really had no reason to be upset…even though she was. They were friends and it looked like that was going to be as far as he wanted it to go and she would have to be fine with that.

Daryl was in the kitchen eating when she got downstairs. "Morning," She said with a bright smile. "Any sign of the lovebirds?"

"Heard then, but ain't seen no sign of them," he answered in between bites of a stale cereal bar.

Dayna took a cereal bar for herself. "Have you spoken to Rick yet?"

"Naw. Was gonna turn the radio on in a bit. Hoping maybe we can get inside today," he told her. Daryl had yet to meet her eyes. He had finished eating one cereal bar and started on another. Dayna continued to make believe that nothing was wrong. They both ate their meager breakfast in silence and before it got very awkward, Sasha and Abraham joined them in the kitchen.

Daryl wiped his hands on his pants while the other three talked and finished up breakfast. Dayna hadn't mentioned that he wasn't wearing the sling, nor did he intend to. Whether it hurt of not, he needed full use of his arm. Daryl picked up the radio off the dirty counter and turned it on as he strolled into the living room. "Rick, you copy?"

After about a minute of dead air, Rick finally responded." Hey, I'm here."

"How'd it go yesterday? We are seeing a lot less walkers in there." Dayna, Sasha and Abraham joined Daryl in the living room. They were eager to hear what Rick had to say.

"I was surprised at how much progress we made. If we had you guys in here it would make a big difference, so I have an idea," Rick said over the radio.

"What that?" Daryl asked. He saw the excitement come into Sasha and Abrahams's eyes.

"Let's make as much progress as we can today. Later this afternoon if I think you guys can make it in somewhat safely, I'll hang a white sheet, towel…something from upper window of our house, Daryl. If you are okay with it, wave a flag or something back from the platform. When we see that, we'll have someone open the gate to let you in. we still have walkers to take care of, but with you all inside to help us sweep for them, they'll be gone in no time." Rick paused for a moment. "What do you think?"

Daryl didn't even pause, "Hell yeah we're in."

"Great. Keep your eye out for our signal. I'm out" Rick signed off.

"Let's bring all our stuff with us, so we don't need to come back," Sasha suggested.

"Good idea," Abraham agreed and together they went back upstairs to get what little they had.

"Daryl?" Dayna said softly.

"Yeah?"

"Are you sure it's okay for me to go with you guys. The people inside…Rick…they don't know me." Daryl could see that Dayna was worried about being tossed out. He felt bad that he hadn't convinced her enough that she would be welcome. Some recruiter he was.

"Yeah, but I know you and so does Sasha and Abraham. You'll be fine. 'kay?" he told her finally looking into her eyes. As much as she tried to hide it he saw her confusion and many unanswered question in her expression. He felt like a total prick for the way he acted last night and this morning. She didn't deserve it. "Let's get our stuff from the room. I'm ready to get out of this house."

Dayna was happy that Daryl was taking to her again, so she gave him a gentle smile and ran up the stairs to get her few belongings. She hoped to be able to get some more clothes in Alexandria as all she really had was what she had on and one more shirt. Everything was filthy.

As she gathered her few items, Daryl came in and started putting the stuff he kept there at the house back into the bag he so he could hide it again. Once that was stored back in its hiding spot, he placed his shoulder pack strap over his head and across his lean body. Then without thinking he picked up his crossbow with his left hand and automatically felt pain shoot through his shoulder. He gritted his teeth through the pain and used his right hand to place the strap over his shoulder so he didn't have to carry it. He kept his face emotionless all the time he was screaming inside, " _Fuck…Fuck…Goddamnit_!"

Dayna left the room first and Daryl waited a minute so he could catch his breath. He was surprised that she didn't yell at him, then again he was sure that he had fucked everything up anyway. Once he got downstairs, the other three were ready to go. They all left the house without a second glance back and made their way to the wall to takeout walkers and await Rick's signal.

* * *

"There it is!" exclaimed Sasha pointing to a white sheet blowing in the slight breeze in the distance. "We're good to wave back, right guys?"

"Fuck yeah," answered Abraham.

Daryl simply responded, "Yep."

Sasha looked at Dayna who simply nodded her head. It wasn't really her call. Sasha picked up the towel they had brought with them and waved it back. They saw the sheet disappear into the window and they knew they had been seen.

Everyone scrambled down the ladders to the ground. It was finally time to go home.

"You'll be fine," Sasha whispered to Dayna as they made their way to the gate. "You've got me and Abraham and of course Daryl."

"I don't know about that anymore," she said quietly. Sasha looked at her in surprise. "Can't explain now, maybe later." Sasha gave her hand a squeeze and caught up with Abraham.

When they made it to the gate, they waited for it to open to allow them in. Sasha and Abraham were talking quietly amongst themselves before he leaned down to kiss her.

Dayna smiled at the couple before she turned to Daryl. They were an odd couple, but she liked them both and wished them well. "Daryl?"

"Yeah," he answered turning his attention to her.

"I just want to say thanks for everything that you did for me. You saved my life in more than one way and I will be forever grateful for that. You're a good man Daryl." Dayna leaned over to give him a kiss on his cheek, but Daryl started to turn his head at the same time so instead of kissing his cheek, their lips met. It startled them both, but neither of them pulled away. Instead they moved closer to each other and the kiss deepened. Dayna was surprised as she hadn't intended for this to happen, it was supposed to be a simply thank you kiss, but she was elated. The feel of his lips on hers was unbelievable. His taste, his hunger all came through to her from this first unexpected kiss. It was better than she could have ever imagined.

Daryl wasn't quite sure how he ended up kissing Dayna, but he didn't want it to stop. He realized that she went to kiss his cheek, but when he turned, her lips ended up on his. " _Damn, she tastes good,_ " flew threw his head. He pushed the gentle kiss deeper needing more and completely forgetting they were not alone. The inner demons that had been plaguing him all day vanished. He wanted her.

Suddenly the gate was thrown open and it startled them. They broke apart at the loud sound of metal on metal. Dayna touched her lips at his abrupt departure. "C'mon!" Glenn shouted.

All four of them ran inside. Dayna was a bit shaky after the kiss. It was unexpected, amazing and life changing. She didn't remember much about the time from when they got inside the gate to when they ran up to a very large house. Dayna's head was going in all different directions. How did one single kiss from someone as unlikely as Daryl affect her so much? She was pulled out of her day dreaming by someone calling out, "C'mon get inside...fast."

Dayna followed everyone up the steps, across a porch and inside the luxury house. It was filled with total strangers and unconsciously she took a step towards Daryl. He was immediately pulled away from her by multiple people either hugging him or slapping him on the back. The same was happening with Sasha and Abraham, except a woman threw herself into his arms kissing him. " _That must be the girlfriend_ ," Dayna thought to herself. Immediately she looked at Sasha whose eyes had narrowed into angry slits. " _This is not going to be pretty_."

Dayna felt someone touch her arm and she looked up at an attractive man. "HI, I'm Rick. You must be Dayna. Welcome to Alexandria."

"Thank you, Rick. I appreciate you letting me in," she said with a sincere smile. She needed this place and the security it offered more than anyone knew.

"Maggie's going to take you to the room that'll be yours. I'm sure it's been a rough few days so why don't you shower, rest up and you and I can talk after dinner." Before Dayna knew what was happening she was introduced to a pretty young brunette named Maggie and if her memory was correct she was married to Glenn. Maggie was welcoming her and ushering her out of the house before she could even talk to Daryl. He wasn't paying any attention to her and Dayna didn't know what to do, so she just followed Maggie. They made a run to the house next door.

"You'll be in here," she said opening a door to a beautiful room. It wasn't anything that Dayna expected. "This used to be Tara's room, but she moved in with Denise. I think you'll like it. You have your own bathroom right through that door over there." Maggie pointed to a partially open door. "What size are you so I can look for some new clothes for you?"

"I was an eight, but I've lost weight so maybe a six? Umm…ahh…who else is in this house with me?" Dayna definitely wanted to know who she was living with and this would help her know where Daryl was. _Why didn't he say anything to her?_

"Glenn and I, Abraham and Rosita, you and Eugene are in this house. In the other house are Rick and Carl, Carol, Michonne, Sasha and Daryl. We tend to all spend a lot of time in the other house, it's bigger and we are one big crazy family." Maggie smiled gently at Dayna. She was sure it was tough coming into this group and she wanted her to feel welcome. "Shower, take a nap and I'll leave the clothes outside the door for you. Dinner is at 6:30 at the other house. We're doing a welcome back together group meal tonight." Maggie left the room and closed the door behind her.

Dayna went to sit down on the bed, but immediately stopped, her clothes were too dirty and she didn't want to ruin the spread. Instead she sat on the floor trying to get her bearings. The last thirty minutes or so had been a whirlwind for her. One minute she's not sure that Daryl even wants to be friends with her and the next she experiences a life changing kiss from him, and then she's immediately running for her life to become involved and live with all these new people. Now Daryl is nowhere to be found. Dayna was absolutely, utterly confused.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Daryl was sitting at the window seat in the living room staring outside. He was showered and in clean clothes for the first time in almost a week. His head was a jumble of too many conflicting thoughts that he was trying to sort out. Most people typically left him alone anyway, so he figured he was safe here for a while.

He was still reeling from that kiss. He had wanted to kiss her, but he hadn't planned on it. It surprised him, but he loved it. He felt like he should talk to her, but he didn't know what to say. He needed to figure out what he wanted first. That was fucking him up. One minute he wanted to see what a life with a person he cared about would be like, but the next had him all but sabotaging it. " _What the hell was wrong with me_?" he wondered.

Dayna was a good person. Their friendship started off a bit rocky, but they had easily moved past that. She was forgiving, trustworthy and beautiful. How could he not be attracted to that? How could he have blown her off one minute and kissed her the next? He had this constant nagging doubt that he wasn't good enough for her…for anyone. After all these years he still heard his father's voice calling him a loser, a no-good son and a worthless human being. He tried to move past his childhood, but time and time again it would come back to haunt him. On one hand he knew he deserved some happiness and on the other he thought he wasn't good enough for her…for anyone.

Sadly he decided to leave well enough alone. She deserved time to get settled into this new life and maybe she'd meet someone better suited for her. He'd go back to being the loner he always was. He was distracted from his thoughts by a soft voice. "Earth to Daryl?" Carol laughed putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey," he simply responded

"You okay?" she asked. "I've been calling you for a few minutes and you didn't answer. Eat these, you're getting too skinny again." Carol handed him a couple of cookies that she had baked. She always managed to make something out nothing.

"Thanks," he said to her taking the cookies. "Just think', that's all."

Carol sat down next to him. "I could tell. Tell me about the new girl."

Daryl knew that she wasn't simply asking out of curiosity. Carol was a fierce protector of the family. "Rescued her off the side of the road after the herd starting to split up at the end. She was weak and tired from not eatin' or sleepin'. Wouldna've lasted another day on her own. She stepped up right from the start in helping me get shit done. She's alright." She was better than alright, she was damn near perfect, but he wasn't gonna give that away.

"You sure? I mean what do you know about her?" Carol was always the suspicious one.

"She fixed my damn shoulder when I dislocated it. She's a nurse and a good one too. Worked ER before all of this." Daryl was getting frustrated with Carol's questions." _Fuck, couldn't she just take my word for once_ ," he thought to himself.

Carol reached over and touched his left shoulder. "I thought you were favoring it. I'm glad she fixed it for you, but just making sure she's okay."

"Damn it, Carol," he said getting mad. "She's good, better than good. Ask Sasha and Abraham, they'll say the same thing. Just leave her the fuck alone."

Carol just smiled at Daryl. "My your awfully touchy about her. Anything you care to share?"

"Drop it." He gave her a hard look that would have had anyone else backing away quickly, but Carol simply laughed and headed back to check on dinner.

Daryl stayed staring out the window until the living started to fill with everyone. As always his eyes caught everything, but he said nothing. He watched Carl playing with the lil' asskicker and out of the corner of his eye he saw Abraham slink in without Rosita. The yelling that came from the other house earlier was a dead giveaway that he told her about Sasha. Even though he didn't know Rosita well she was part of the group and he hated conflict within it.

Finally Glenn, Maggie and Dayna walked in and Daryl couldn't stop staring. He had always thought that she was pretty, but in clean fitted clothes and her hair all down and shiny, she was stunning. She caught him looking at her and smiled as she walked over to him. "Hey," she said to him.

"Hey," was all he could say back to her.

"This place is amazing. I never imagined anything like this still existed. If I didn't know any better it feels like the world never turned and this is just a normal party." Dayna was truly impressed by everything she had seen in Alexandria so far. It didn't get past her how different she thought everyone in the room was yet how much they all cared about each other. "Did they actually cook a real meal?"

"Yeah, Carol and Maggie do most of the cookin'. Helluva lot better than canned beans," he said dryly.

"Dayna laughed, "Anything would be better than those canned beans. They were awful!" Dayna was trying to think of something else to talk about with him, when Maggie told everyone that dinner was ready. Everyone made their way into the kitchen and made a plate from the food waiting on the center island. Dayna hadn't seen that much food since all this began, then again they had to feed twelve people, well thirteen if Rosita showed up and that was doubtful.

There was not enough seating at a table for this many people so everyone sat wherever they found a place in the living room and dove into their plates. Dayna took a seat near Sasha and Abraham as there was nothing by Daryl and she didn't want to sit in the floor. The last thing she wanted to do was appear clingy.

"Everything good for you two?" Dayna asked Sasha quietly.

"About as good as I expected it to go over…like a lead balloon, but it's done and hopefully we can move forward," Sasha sighed. "I hate hurting someone…especially someone I know. I didn't realize that you knew about Rosita."

"Just basics. I asked Daryl about a comment you had made and he explained. Well let me correct that because he gave me a one word answer, which I've learned is fairly typical of him. Then I put two and two together," Dayna told her. She genuinely liked Sasha so Dayna was glad that everything worked out for her, it was too bad about the other girl though.

"Hey, that reminds me, I don't mean to pry, but what's going on with you and Daryl?" Sasha whispered to me.

"Hell if I know," Dayna responded rolling her eyes. . "He is the most confusing man I have ever met."

"Sasha laughed. "Welcome to our world. Daryl has always been his own man. He's do anything for this family, but I'm just not sure what he'd do for himself. I don't mean to be nosy, but I saw him kiss you!"

"Sasha, I need to talk this through with you, but I'm not comfortable doing it here. Can we talk later? I know Rick wants to talk to me after dinner, so can we talk after that. I need your advice…badly." Sasha was the closest thing she had to a friend in this new environment that she found herself in. Hopefully, Sasha could help her understand Daryl since she knew him a whole lot better, but Dayna was thinking that Daryl did not let a lot of himself out there.

"Sounds good. Just come and find me, I'll be around."

"Thanks," Dayna told her. She stood up and took her empty plate to the kitchen and placed it on the counter with the others. "Do you want me to wash?" she asked Carol.

"No, that's okay. Rick wants to talk to everyone so the cleanup will wait," Carol explained with a smile.

"Okay." Dayna walked back into the living room. There was something about Carol that bothered her. She couldn't put a finger in it, but something was off. Even when Carol smiled at her, it didn't reach her eyes. She was someone else that Dayna wanted to talk to Sasha about.

Rick stood up and cleared his throat. "It's good to have the family back together again. It's been a long stressful week for us all, and it's not quite over yet, but there is an end in sight." He took a moment to look around the room. "Most of you know that we lost Deanna when the wall fell and the herd got in. That's puts us in charge now. Alexandria is ours and we have a lot of work to get it safer than it is now."

Dayna watched the people in the room react to Rick's words. She saw a slight look of surprise flicker across Daryl's face when Rick mentioned that this Deanna had died. Dayna easily recognized Rick as the leader. He had a take control personality, but she could see that everyone around her respected him. She knew she had stumbled into a place that was a miracle in this chaotic world they now all lived in.

Rick continued, "Everyone that works at a job will now be in charge. Abraham the construction is yours. We need to make fixing the wall a top priority."

"Roger that," Abraham replied.

"Glenn you are in charge of organizing the runs working with Tara and Carol you're the pantry…that includes food and weapons. Michonne keep policing the compound. Sasha you are in charge of the watch shfts. We are going to have to build more platforms since we don't have the clock tower anymore. Eugene you keep up with the mechanics of this place and Maggie you'll be working with me like you did Deanna. Where's Rosita?"

"Ahh…can we talk about her after this Rick?" Abraham said with all eyes in the room on him. By now most everyone knew what had happened.

"Sure." Rick hesitated a moment before turning to the only person in the group he hadn't addressed. "Daryl…I want to stop recruiting…temporarily. We need to get this community secure again, finish getting rid of the rest of the walkers and burn their bodies. I want you to be in charge of that. When that's done and the wall is replaced, then we can start talking about recruiting again. Okay?"

Daryl looked at Rick for a long moment before he said anything. Dayna could not tear her eyes away from him. Finally he nodded his head in agreement. "Okay. Got it."

Rick gave him one of his half smiles. He knew Daryl better than Daryl knew himself at times. "And finally we have Dayna to welcome to the group. From what I've heard you'll fit in just fine, but let's you and me talk in the library for a few minutes."

"Sounds good to me," she said with more conviction than she felt. Dayna got up and glanced over at Daryl but he was looking out the window again. She followed Rick to another room and chose one of the soft chairs and he sat across from her on the sofa. It was quiet for a moment. Dayna waited for Rick to speak first.

Rick sat back on the floral sofa and had a flashback of when he did this with Deanna all those months ago when they first got to Alexandria. He was now the one in charge of this whole place and everyone in it. It was no longer twelve or thirteen people that he had to worry about, now it was a small town. He hoped he was up to the challenge. He brought his attention back to Dayna who was sitting there waiting for him quietly. He had wanted to talk to Daryl about her before he interviewed her, but he hadn't had the time. He did have a quick conversation with Sasha and Rick was surprised because Sasha tended to be hard on people and she had nothing but good things to say about Dayna.

Rick looked up from the floor and directly into Dayna eyes. He respected that she met his gaze head on. "I want to thank you for all the help you gave us. Sasha said that you were indispensible on the outside and she doesn't give out compliments easily. So tell me how did you end up where you are?"

Dayna told him her whole story from when the world fell apart right through meeting up with Daryl and then Sasha and Abraham. "I don't think I would have survived much longer if it wasn't for Daryl. I owe him my life." Dayna was completely convinced that if Daryl hadn't stopped that day on his motorcycle, she would be dead now or most likely a walker herself.

"Daryl's a good man," Rick said. "He's saved quite a few people. He's like a brother to me."

"So he's told me." Dayna said to Rick with a smile. "His exact words were 'a brother by choice' and that speaks volumes about your relationship. You both are good men, I can tell. I appreciate you letting me in, Rick. I'll carry my weight here and you won't regret it." Dayna knew that she would do anything to be able to stay there with the security Alexandria offered and also to be close to Daryl. She felt the most secure when she was with him.

Dayna fidgeted in the chair a little bit. She knew without anyone telling her that Rick was in charge of who stayed and who didn't. If he had any doubt, she had to convince him it was in their best interest for her to stay.

"Sasha said you fixed Daryl's shoulder…that you're a nurse. She also said that you were able to get Daryl to listen to you and I know that's not easy. Impressive." Rick watched Dayna and took in every emotion and expression she had while they were talking. He was a pretty good judge of character and he liked what he saw. Hell, anyone that could get Daryl to listen to them was pretty damn good. He rubbed his hands up and down his thighs through the worn pants before he continued. "We need people with medical training here. Our current doctor…needs help. Sasha said that you worked in the ER?"

"The ER for the last three years, before that it was med/surg…OB and even the OR. I wanted to experience all aspects of nursing. I know I'll be an asset here Rick. I'm a good nurse…I know what I'm doing." Dayna made sure that her gaze stayed steady with Rick's.

"Did Daryl ask you the questions?" Rick asked her suddenly very serious.

"What questions?"

Rick leaned forward and never took his eyes off Dayna. "How many walkers have you killed?"

Dayna was momentarily stunned by the question. "Umm...never kept track...a couple dozen?"

"How many people have you killed?"

"One." She said without any emotion. "Just one." The questions had taken a turn that she never expected.

"Why?"

"Why? Because the bastard raped me and when he tried to kill me, I beat him to it. You got anything else for me Rick?" Dayna was pissed. Memories she tried to suppress came flooding back. She didn't talk about the rape or think about it otherwise it stood a chance of consuming her.

"Naw, that's it. Daryl should have already asked those. It's standard that we ask everyone."

Dayna relaxed a little. She was glad that Daryl hadn't asked her, it was something she never talked about to anyone. Daryl didn't need to know. She wasn't sure why she told Rick, but something told her that if she had lied, she'd find herself back on her own again. "Did I pass?"

"Yeah. I'd be stupid to let anyone like you go. Take a few days for yourself, get situated…meet people and then I'll have Maggie get you going at the infirmary. Denise will love having you with her." Rick stood up indicating the interview was over. "Have a good night." Dayna thanked him and he watched her walk out of the room. They needed a person like Dayna. Rick was very happy to have her join them. Denise was in over her head in the infirmary and he could tell that Dayna was going to be a great asset.

Rick sat back down on the sofa, laying his head back. He ran his fingers through his hair short curly hair. He had a large weight on his shoulders with all of the responsibilities that came with a place like Alexandria. He didn't ask for it, it just dropped in his lap when Deanna died. " _Maybe I should think about putting together a town council to help him_ ," he thought. " _Definitely something to keep in mind_."

He relaxed for a few minutes as a quiet moment like this was hard for him to come by. Finally he looked at his watch and saw it was time to put Judith to bed. His little girl could always put a smile on his face. He stood up with a happy grin and headed off to tuck his baby girl in. It had gone back to being just another night in Alexandria.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Dayna stood outside the library for a few minutes. Her fingers were clenched into fists and her head lay back against the wall. She knew she was breathing too fast. She wasn't prepared for that horrible memory when it slammed back into her. The animal that hurt her was vile, disgusting and very, very dead. She had seen to that. It had taken her time to get past that, but she had for the most part. She knew that all men weren't evil and bad, that men like Daryl, Abraham and the others in this group were good. She just had to concentrate on the good.

Oddly enough, thinking about Daryl calmed her down. Most women wouldn't think of another man in a situation like this, but Daryl was different and so was she. Dayna's breathing slowed down and she found her hands no longer clenched into tight balls. She shook her head to help banish the memories that she wanted to stay hidden and went to find someone who could help her get some answers.

Dayna found Sasha leaving the kitchen having just finished helping clean up after dinner. "You have time now?" Dayna asked her new friend. She was so confused about Daryl that she needed to talk to someone. They were friends for sure, but Dayna had thought they were slowly moving past that. She loved how they woke up every morning snuggled together, well that was except this morning. She had no idea why Daryl didn't come upstairs to sleep last night? It was driving her crazy trying to figure what went wrong. Then the accidental kiss this afternoon completely made her head spin. Did he want her or not?

"Definitely!" answer Sasha.

"How about we go to my room?" suggested Dayna. She really didn't want anyone to overhear them. This was too personal of a conversation.

"I don't think it's a good idea for me to go over there. Rosita is there and I think it's best I stay away from her for a while," Sasha told her.

Dayna realized how awkward that could be. "Of course, you're right. Where should we go? This is kinda private, so I don't want everyone to know."

"Let's go up to my room. If Abraham is hiding out there, I'll kick him out."

"But…" Dayna started to say.

"It's okay, let's go up." Sasha led the way up the stairs to the second floor. It didn't get past Dayna how luxurious these houses were. She still couldn't get over that she was part of this community now.

Sasha stopped in front of as door and turned the handle. "You decent?" she called out.

"Not for long," came a husky reply from inside the room.

"Keep the pants on big guy, I need a little bit of girl time with Dayna. Why don't you go talk to Rick about this mess you created? Okay?" Abraham was certainly no pushover, but Dayna laughed as Sasha had him already wrapped around her little finger.

"Fuck. All right I'll get it over with," Abraham said. Dayna waited outside the room for him to leave, but he turned to her in the hall. "Glad you're here with us Dayna," he said to her before he headed downstairs to find Rick.

Dayna entered the room and Sasha closed the door behind her. This house was bigger than the one she was in next door. Even though there were five bedrooms here, this one even boasted a small sitting area with two soft chairs in a navy and white print. That's where they sat to talk. Dayna's nerves kicked in the second she sat down.

"So…start from the beginning," Sasha said.

Dayna took a deep breath and began. "You know how Daryl found me walking along the road. Up until that first night in the green house we just worked together as a team. Everything was normal, in fact early on I was a bit afraid of him, he can be a bit intimidating. Then that night he was going to go sleep on the sofa and give me the room, but I felt bad. That was sorta his house. He would stay there when he needed to and I didn't want to kick him out, but I also didn't want to be by myself downstairs, so I suggested we both just sleep in the bed. After a bit of convincing, he agreed. He went to sleep on one side and I did on the other. It was when we woke up in the morning things sorta changed."

"How so?" asked Sasha.

"When I woke up, Daryl was wrapped around me. I was on my side and he was spooning me with his arm around me."

Sasha looked at Dayna in surprise. "Daryl did that?" Sasha knew that Daryl was not big on physical displays with others.

'Yeah, he did. Now I was sure that it was just one of things that happened in his sleep, rolling over towards the warm body and all of that…but, Sasha every morning we woke up that way and I got the distinct feeling it was no longer an accident. We'd talk in the mornings and I could see that he was so much more relaxed than normal. I felt like we were making a connection. I know I did. Damn it, Sasha he makes my heart race!" Dayna dropped her head into her hands for a moment.

Dayna took a deep breath and continued, "I gotta finish this. That last night in the house something changed. I don't know if it was something I did or what happened, but he spent the night on the sofa. He never came up to go to sleep and he was barely talking to me. I felt like my heart was broken even though we were never really in a relationship, but I thought we were moving towards one. I guess I was wrong about that." Dayna could feel the start of tears forming in her eyes and she blinked them back.

Sasha reached out and squeezed her hand, "What about that kiss?"

"I have no idea!" Dayna exclaimed in frustration and got up to walk around the room. "You and Abraham were kissing by the gate, so I started to thank Daryl for everything he did for me. If he hadn't stopped to talk to me that first day, I'd be dead right now. I'm sure of it. So I went to give him a kiss on the cheek…he turned his head and it was fireworks after that. I don't think he intended that to happen, but when it did he didn't stop and nor did I and the kiss got more and more intense until that damned gate opened. And now…he's barely spoken a few words to me." Dayna turned to Sasha, "What the hell is it with him?"

Sasha knew Daryl, but not as well as some of the others did. She didn't want to betray him in anyway, but she really didn't know enough about him to do that. She smiled over at Dayna. "Daryl…well is Daryl. He's different than the rest of us and has always been. He's definitely a loner and never talks about himself. I know he had a brother, Merle that none of us liked…in fact that was just a bad situation with him, but he's dead now. Daryl's' loyal to a fault and I'd trust him with my life…in fact I have quite often, but on a personal level I don't know that much about him, besides him having that idiot of a brother. I know he came from a messed up childhood." Sasha took a second to organize her thoughts and decided just to go for it. "I've never ever seen him interested in anyone romantically before…but I do think there may be something between you two, I've caught him watching you many times, but he is a tough one to figure out. Carol knows him the best. They were always close. "

"Carol!" Dayna remembered. "I don't think she likes me. What's with her?"

Sasha rolled her eyes. "Carol can be very protective and especially with Daryl, but once she accepts you there's she nothing wouldn't do for you. Just don't get on her bad side…she may look sweet, but she's deadly.

"Did she and Daryl have anything ever going between them? She must sense I'm interested," Dayna suggested. There had to be a reason that Carol didn't like her.

"No, they never had anything romantic between them. It's more of a brother/sister/friend thing between them. She's just very protective of him, which is stupid because Daryl can certainly take care of himself." Sasha made a mental note to make sure that Carol understood to leave Dayna alone. "All I can suggest is maybe give him a little bit of time and you can talk to me whenever you want."

"So you really think he may be interested? He's so not the type I usually go for, but that brooding biker attitude is just making me think about possibilities that I would never had considered in that past. He's driving me crazy!" Dayna sat for a minute to collect herself, then stood up and Sasha followed. "Thanks Sasha. I appreciate this. I just needed to talk this through and you helped. Thanks for being a friend. "

Sasha never a lot of girlfriends and she was looking forward to having a friend in Dayna. "Hey, if I can help at all, you can count on me. I think I better go rescue Abraham, we both are to blame with hurting Rosita."

They walked out of the room together each feeling good. They cemented a friendship between them that they both needed. Once they were back downstairs, Sasha went in search of Abraham and Dayna headed towards the front door to head back to her house. On her way through the living room she took a quick look to see if Daryl was around, but all she saw was Carl reading a comic book spread out on a sofa. She opened the front door and quietly slipped outside. She immediately caught the smell of a cigarette.

"Hey," came from a dark corner of the porch. Daryl stepped into the moonlight a lit cigarette was in his hand. "You heading back?" he asked Dayna.

Seeing Daryl surprised and pleased her at her same time. She wished she could stay with him, but couldn't think of any decent reason why without looking desperate…and she was not desperate...yet. "Yeah. I was hanging with Sasha for a bit, but she had to go straighten things out with Rick and Abraham about Rosita. That's a huge mess."

"Heard about that. I'll walk ya over," he said taking another drag of the cigarette. "There's still walkers around, so you have to be careful."

Dayna was ecstatic that he offered to see her home, even though it was just right next door. They headed down the stairs and in the quiet night air she said the first that hat came to mind, "I didn't know that you smoked."

"Yeah," was all he said.

"You didn't smoke before."

"Didn't have any smokes with me, now I do," he said gruffly blowing smoke into air. They were already at the front door of her house. "Just keep an eye out for lurking walkers. Hope to have them gone in the next few days." He turned to walk away.

"Thank you, Daryl for walking me back. Good Night," Dayna said softly with a smile.

Daryl simply nodded at her and headed home. He hoped that she wouldn't figure out how long he had been waiting for her. It still wasn't safe inside the walls, at least not yet and he didn't want anything to happen to her. He'd keep an eye out for her, she deserved that and a whole lot more. She just didn't need a Dixon screwing up her life. He crushed out his cigarette just as easily as he crushed any dream he ever had of being with her, then he headed back to his lonely room.

Next door Dayna gently closed the door behind her and sank into it. The smile that spread across her face was huge. He walked her home! He had to have been waiting for her. Walking up the stairs to her room, Dayna convinced herself that he was just shy and they needed just a little more time. She'd give him all the time he needed, but little did she know how much time that may entail.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Two weeks. Two long weeks have gone by and Dayna had barely seen Daryl. Since she had the afternoon off she was sitting on the front porch of her house enjoying the sun and trying to once again figure out what was going on with him…which apparently was absolutely nothing. Alexandria was almost safe again. Daryl had rounded up a team and they searched and took out any remaining walkers that were inside the walls. Once that was done, the piles of bodies were burned and that horrible time was close to being behind them now.

Dayna looked at the neighborhood around her. If she didn't know any better, this was life before the apocalypse…the turn or when the world went crazy…whatever you wanted to call it, this was like living back then. It was also a living under a false sense of security, because outside their walls this idea of peace ceased to exist. Dayna had learned that under the previous leader, they mistakenly thought they were safe from everything and that was the farthest thing from the truth. Rick brought everyone back to reality.

Dayna liked her job with Denise at the infirmary. Everyone had to carry their weight here and the infirmary was perfect for her. Her strength was all types of nursing. Denise, their doctor, while she had gone to medical school was the least experienced doctor Dayna had ever worked with, but together they made a good team. Denise just needed to keep brushing up on procedures that they may need to perform at some time.

Then there was Daryl. He was rarely around and she never saw him and it frustrated her immensely. She wished she knew him better, to help her understand. Dayna wanted to ask Maggie about him, but even though they were starting to become friends, she didn't want Maggie to think that she was overstepping. Sadly, maybe it was time for her to give up on Daryl. Her head was fighting a battle with her heart and neither knew what to do.

Sitting on the front steps, Dayna leaned back on her elbows tilting her head back to bask in the rays of the afternoon sun. Days were getting cooler as they headed into autumn, so this was a nice day to sit outside and enjoy. Closing her eyes, Dayna could hear the sounds of children laughing and the men working on the wall. Abraham almost had the repair completed much to everyone relief. This was a huge step for the people of Alexandria.

Dayna let her mind wander as the warm sun beat down on her. Unfortunately for her, she continued to think of Daryl over and over again. He was stuck in her head and she couldn't get rid of him. " _Bastard_ ," she thought to herself.

"Hey," said a deep voice.

" _Speaking of the bastard._ " She opened her eyes and smiled at him. "Hey stranger," she said more calmly than she felt. "What you been up to?"

"The usual" he told her. A big conversationalist Daryl was not.

"Why don't you join me here," She said patting the step besides her. "I have no idea what 'the usual ' is for you so why don't you explain it to me."

Daryl sat down next to Dayna and laid his crossbow next to him. "Rick hasn't okayed Aaron and me to recruit for more people yet so I've been scoutin', huntin' and taking out walkers that come up to the wall. That's it. What 'bout you?"

"I've been working with Denise in the infirmary. That's been interesting to say the least. I think I know more than she does, but don't tell anyone. But we haven't been too busy, so I did an inventory of what we have and what we need. Do you happen to know if they have any runs planned?"

"I can check with Glenn, but if not I can do one," he told her. Daryl was doing his best to control his inner demons. He knew he had no business seeking out Dayna and done his damnedest to stay away, but he just couldn't. Weeks later all he could think about was their kiss. He had never experience anything quite like it before. The emotions it brought to the surface was unlike anything he had ever felt …and it scared him. He had cared deeply for people and lost them and he didn't want to go through anything like that again. Losing Beth about destroyed him and that was simply loving her like a little sister, he couldn't imagine the pain it would be to lose someone he loved on a deeper level. Dayna had that potential…so therefore she was off limits or so he was trying to keep her that way.

"I want to go on that run," Dayna said to him. "This way if I see anything that we could potentially use, I can grab it."

"No, I can do it. Just give me a list," Daryl replied firmly. He was not willing to put her into any more danger.

"No, Daryl we can do it together. The list would be the basics of what we need, I would be able to grab other items depending on what I see and you wouldn't be able to do that." Dayna could tell by his expression he didn't like that. " _Well tough shit_ ," she thought. "Why don't you want me going? Is it just me or don't you think am capable of handling myself? I thought I proved to you that I could."

Daryl knew he wasn't going to win this argument as he really didn't have a good reason for her not to go. It actually made total sense for Dayna to accompany him, he just didn't want to her around because of the temptation she stirred in him. Daryl knew he had to take her. "I just like to do this shit on my own, but you're right you should come. I know nuthin' about medical stuff."

Dayna didn't totally buy his answer. "Daryl, no one should go on a run by themselves…even you. You're good , but you're not invincible. Someone has to have you back, so I'm going. When do you want to leave?" Once again, he was acting strange, but at least she had gotten him to agree to let her come. Maybe time together would help them figure what was going on between them one way or another.

"We need to figure out where to look first. Where to go that hasn't been picked through yet. Do you have any ideas?" He asked her. Daryl was purposely trying not to look at Dayna, but it was hard. She looked so pretty and relaxed sitting there in a sun with her head tilted back, that it took everything in him not to lean over and kiss her. Even if he did he figured he'd screw that up somehow.

"Okay, let's think about this," Dayna said sitting up from her reclined position. She looked over at Daryl, forcing him to turn his head towards her. "Hospitals and clinics are either picked clean or too dangerous. Right?"

Daryl nodded in agreement.

Dayna thought for a moment. "Doctor's offices are a maybe or a small town pharmacy? Where else have you gotten supplies from all these months?"

"Any place we found them." Daryl thought for a second and remembered when Hershel sent them to that vet school. "What about vet offices? We went to a vet school and made out big once."

Dayna's eyes lit up. "A veterinary office is a good idea! They use many of the same drugs that humans do. Do you think anyone has an old phone book so I could look some up?"

"I'd check with Glenn. I think he does to help with the supply runs. I saw him talking to Rick earlier."

"I'm going to go find Glenn and research where to go. I'll ask his advice too. Do you want to do this tomorrow?" Dayna was anxious to get this going. Having more medical supplies on hand would make her feel more comfortable. The time away with Daryl was a bonus she had no plans on putting off.

The sooner the better.

"We could go tomorrow if you figure out where we need to look. Bring a pack with food, water and anything else in case we get stuck out overnight. I also want you to carry a gun this time. We can hit up the armory before we leave. 'kay?" Now that Daryl had agreed to let her come with him, he was looking forward to it. He just had to keep reminding himself to keep everything on a strictly friendly basis.

"That sounds good. I'm going to track down Glenn and figure out a plan for us. If anything changes, I'll find you otherwise I'll see you in the morning. Thanks Daryl!" Dayna gave him a quick hug and skipped down the steps to find Glenn.

Daryl watched her run into the house next door in search of a phone book and hopefully a map. He forgot to remind her to get one. Her excitement was contagious as a small smile appeared on his normally serious face. He hadn't been far beyond the walls in a while and he was looking forward to freedom that came with it. His bike, the open road and a pretty girl…nothing got better than that.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Daryl was up just after dawn as usual. Yesterday after talking with Dayna, he made sure that his bike was ready for the road trip. He used the garage at Aaron's house to check the oil and brake fluids and top them off. Then he fiddled with everything to make sure that they didn't encounter any problems on the road. He had built this bike himself so he every single inch of it. He filled it with gas and it was ready to go…so was he.

He was in the kitchen finishing a bowl of oatmeal that Carol had made for him when Dayna came through the front door. His eyes didn't miss her for a second and neither did Carol's.

Carol spent a lot of her time watching and observing. Nothing usually got by her. She knew that ever since Daryl had returned there was an inner turmoil in him that she was trying to figure out and she was pretty sure the reason just walked in the door.

She calmly watched Daryl's reaction to Dayna as she walked into the house and knew just as she suspected not only did his face soften when he saw her, but he was slightly nervous. Not many would be able to pick up on that, but she knew him better than anyone. However, Dayna had yet to win her over. She had never done anything wrong, but Carol was still being cautious. Her nursing skills were definitely invaluable and she had done a great job fixing Daryl's shoulder. Carol was thankful for that and that worked in Dayna's favor. Everyone else in their group loved her and thought she fit in with them very well, but Carol just wasn't ready to like her yet.

It was what she may be doing to Daryl's heart that had Carol worried. She didn't think there was anything going on between them...so far, but she had never seen Daryl interested in a woman before and she knew he was interested in Dayna. It was really none of her business, but when anything concerned Daryl she made it her business. If he knew she was being this protective of him, he'd be furious. Carol knew about the abusive childhood he had and like herself that did a hell of a job on a person's self-esteem. She always had to remind Daryl that he was as good as Rick was, but she knew that he didn't believe it. The last thing she wanted was him to be hurt by someone he cared about ...again.

"Morning Carol," Dayna said brightly. She knew Carol had yet to warm up to her, but Dayna refused to be anything other than nice to her. Kill her with kindness was her philosophy.

"Good morning Dayna, would you like some oatmeal? Daryl's just finishing up his," Carol offered.

"Sure, a small bowl would be great. I don't want to hold up our leaving."

"We're good," Daryl said in between spoonful's of his breakfast.

"Good. I didn't want to be late." Dayna took the bowl from, "This is perfect, thanks again Carol." Dayna finished up her oatmeal quickly and washed out her bowl and spoon. Then she did the same for Daryl's that was sitting on the counter. Silently Carol appreciated that.

Daryl wiped his hands on his pants. "Let's head to the armory to pick up the guns and ammo. Carol, can you let us in or do you want to give me the key?"

"I'll come over. Glenn's last run brought in some food that's good to travel with. I can give you some of that too. Do you both have water?" Even though Carol has hesitant about Dayna, she was easing up about it. As long as she didn't screw up Daryl, all would be fine.

Daryl mumbled he did. "I have my canteen filled," Dayna replied. Then turning to Daryl she asked, "Do we need to talk to Rick?"

"Talk to me about what?" came from behind her. Dayna turned around to see Rick descending the stairs.

" 'bout the run we are taking today. I told him 'bout it," Daryl drawled.

"Yeah, he did. It's a good run to make. We must have gone through a lot of medical supplies after the mess that happened during and after the walkers and the wall." Rick turned to Daryl, "You takin' guns?"

"Headin' to the armory now with Carol. Then we're takin' off," Daryl replied. His crossbow was in his right hand and his pack was over his left shoulder. He was ready to go.

"Be safe you two," Rick wished them before heading back upstairs. He had come down to see them off.

Carol, Daryl and Dayna headed out of the house together to the armory. It was a quiet walk over and since it was so early, there was no one else around. The cloudless sky was a brilliant blue and looked like it would be a great day to travel on the motorcycle. Carol led the way to the building that housed both the food pantry and the armory. She unlocked the door and led the way inside. Normally she would have stayed with anyone taking out extra guns for the day, but she trusted Daryl completely.

He picked out a 9 mm for both him and Dayna to carry. He searched through the miscellaneous supplies until he found a thigh holster for Dayna. He showed her how it worked so she could strap the gun on. He didn't dare attempt to help her. Carol had extra magazines already filled so Daryl grabbed two for his pocket and two for Dayna to carry. Then he threw a few more into his pack. He debated on taking a long gun with them, but with her riding behind him there wasn't a good place to carry it, so he decided not to bring it.

Daryl turned to Dayna, "You okay with the gun? I know you're not used to carrying."

"I'll get used to it," she told him. "It does give me more confidence with it. Umm… Do you think that when we get back you could give me some lessons with it? I want to be as good with it as I can." Dayna wasn't just saying what she thought Daryl wanted to hear. A gun would keep her safer than a knife and she needed to get more confident with it and accurate. Ultimately she was in charge of her own life and the more skills she possessed the better her odds were.

"Yeah, I can take you shooting, but in the meantime only have your finger on the trigger when you wanna shoot it. Anything else is dangerous and don't forget this is the safety. Okay?" Dayna nodded that she understood him. "Hey Carol, we're ready to head out. You got that food?" Daryl called out.

"Hopefully, you both will be back tonight and won't need it, but it's better to be prepared," Carol said as she handed the food to Dayna. It went into the big pack she intended to wear on her back that she would bring back the medical supplies in.

"Thanks Carol," Dayna smiled at her. "I think we're ready to go. Right?"

Daryl's answer was to simply head out the door. Dayna didn't take it personally, she knew that was just Daryl's way. The motorcycle was parked in front of their main house. Daryl secured his crossbow to the rack on the back and his pack to the hooks he had designed for it. His hunting knife was on his belt and the gun was tucked in the holster on his waist.

He climbed on the bike and started the engine. It roared to life. He turned to look at Dayna who stood waiting to get on behind him. " _Fuck, she looks good_ ," he thought to himself. " _She'll be sittin' behind me, hangin' on and ….stop Dixon. Just stop thinkin' 'bout it her_." It wasn't going to help him get through this trip if he dwelled on how pretty she was. "Get on." He said to Dayna a bit more gruffly than he intended.

"Oookay," said Dayna. She rolled her eyes at Carol whose mouth tilted into a small smile. Dayna was starting to grow on her. She already understood Daryl's gruff ways without being offended.

Dayna slid behind Daryl and whispered, "Brings back memories." She wrapped her arms around his waist as he flipped his sunglasses down. She didn't see the crooked grin he tried to hold back. Daryl started the bike down the empty street headed toward the gate.

Sasha was finishing up her overnight watch shift. She saw them approaching and opened the gate so they could ride straight through. Dayna waved at her and as the gate closed behind them, she rested her cheek against Daryl's back. It was so good to be this close to him again. With a big smile on her face, she settled in for a long ride behind the guy she had started to really care about.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Daryl had the map spread out on the seat of the motorcycle as they tried to figure out where to go to next. He was a bit frustrated as the first two veterinary clinics they tried were basically a bust. They only found a few rolls of gauze and some medical tape. They had more places to try, but he hated started off this way.

Dayna held out the list she had made of vet offices , she was disappointed too, but wasn't nearly ready to give up yet. "Why don't we go a bit further out? Maybe a more rural area would be better than around here?" she suggested. "What do you think?"

"Yep. This whole area's been picked clean. What you got on that list out in the… Oak Valley area?" Daryl asked. He knew checking the vet offices was a good idea, but they just hadn't found the right location yet. He ran his hands up and down his thighs as he studied the map, his long bangs falling in front of his eyes. Dayna had to resist reaching out and pushing them back so he could see.

Instead she consulted her list again. "Looks like there may be two out that way. We should give them a try." Dayna folded up the list and put in it in the back pocket of her jeans. She needed to keep her hands busy or they were going to get her in trouble by touching him. If she wasn't thinking about brushing his bangs aside, then it was touching his muscular arms and finally the one that always her tingle all over…pressing her lips against his.

Dayna then took the canteen she had hanging on her shoulders off and took a drink before handing it to Daryl who had just finished putting the map away in his pack. "Thanks," he said taking a sip. "You think we're gonna be able to find what we need?"

"I hope so. Hey… have you ever thought that eventually we're going to run out of everything and what do we do then?" This was the first time that Dayna ever said that out loud. It had been in the back of her mind for a long time now. What do we do when everything is gone? There was absolutely no manufacturing going on and eventually there would be nothing left to find.

"Worrin' 'bout somethin' we ain't got no control over doesn't do us any good. Just take stuff day by day is enough for me." Daryl handed the canteen back to Dayna. "Should take maybe an hour or so to get to Oak Valley. Let's get moving."

He swung a leg over the bike and waited for Dayna to get on behind him before starting the engine. He felt her warm body slide in behind him and she wrapped her arms around his waist. It felt too good to him…way too good so that his body started to react to her. Quickly he started the motorcycle and headed toward Rt. 87 that would take them towards Oak Valley. He had to get his mind back onto the trip and off the woman behind him. He couldn't afford to be distracted right now or maybe ever.

The miles blew past them as they winding down empty roads littered with leaves and debris. Daryl easily maneuvered the bike around abandoned cars and small groups of walkers. This is where he loved to be…outside and riding his motorcycle. Inside Alexandria he felt claustrophobic and out of place, yet he had a purpose, responsibilities and people that looked up to him. He never had that before the turn. As always he was a contradiction of ideals.

Dayna was still hanging onto him. As the miles passed her hold had loosened up a bit and he knew she was comfortable riding with him. He knew she was keeping her eyes out for hazards that he may not see, even though nothing really ever got past him. Daryl thought a lot about his passenger over the quiet roads they covered. Today her long dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail again. She tended to wear it this way a lot, but he preferred it down. It always looked so soft and shiny and….

"Daryl, wasn't that our turn?" Dayna called out to him.

 _Fuck._

"Yeah…hang on I'm turning around," he told her. He pulled a wide U-turn and headed back to the road he missed. He was glad that Dayna didn't say anything about it, as he was not about to tell her that he was thinking about her hair and that's what made him screw up. . For the rest to the short trip to the first vet office he kicked himself for being distracted and getting caught

They finally pulled up in front of Oak Valley Veterinary Clinic. It was situated all by itself without a house or any other building in sight. Daryl parked in front of the office door. Dayna popped off from behind him and he quickly followed grabbing the crossbow off the back of the bike. His eyes swiftly scouted the area and didn't see any sign of walkers or people. The only thing that stood out was an old dirty car parked at the edge of the lot.

With a nod to Dayna he headed toward the dust covered Honda his crossbow up and ready. Dayna knew the drill and followed behind him silently. When they reached the car Daryl could tell that it hadn't been touched in a very long time. A peripheral look inside didn't show anything useful. Dayna looked at Daryl and he indicated that they were going to move onward to the building. This was always the uncomfortable part for Dayna...heading into an unknown structure were anything could happen.

Daryl tried the door and it was locked. He moved back a step, turned around and kicked in the door. Quickly he entered into the dreary waiting room. His flashlight was in his left hand that supported the crossbow and the thin band of light from it shot through the room. It was empty. Dayna followed close behind with her gun in one hand and her flashlight in the other, her eyes quickly taking in her surroundings as she followed Daryl. He moved to the hallway off to the right and saw three closed doors, plus another at the end. "We're going to check one room at a time. When it's cleared, I'll stand here in the doorway and you can search the room. Ready?" he told Dayna softly.

Even though he said this to her each time they searched today, she knew he was only being thorough. "Ready."

He opened the first door, it was an exam room and it was empty. "Go," he said to Dayna.

She went quickly into the room, her flashlight shining out in front of her. Dayna went right to the cabinets by the sink and started opening doors. They were filled with supplies. She placed the backpack on the exam table ready to dump in anything they could use. The first cabinet held a lot of animal oriented materials, so she moved to the next one. This cabinet was a goldmine of syringes, gauze rolls and pads, casting material and suture kits. She dumped as much as she could in the pack. The next two rooms held the same medical supplies. These were definitely desirable supplies, but they really needed to find where they kept the pharmacy.

Dayna walked out of the last exam room and touched Daryl's arm. He turned his steely blue eyes to her. "We need to find where they have the drugs. My guess would be in the back where they do surgery so they can be locked up."

"You didn't find anything in the rooms?" he asked.

"Only if you have rabies or distemper. I did take a distemper vial for when you get out of sorts," Dayna teased with a sly smile.

"Funny," he said rolling his eyes. "Now get behind me when we go into the back room, I have a strange feeling about it." Daryl pushed past Dayna to the door at the end of the hall. He didn't let her see the smirk he had from her comment. He liked that she was teasing him…it felt good.

As he reached the back door a strong decomposing smell hit him. He looked through the window into the semi-dark room and thought he saw movement. "I think we have company," he whispered to Dayna.

"Walkers or people?" she asked.

"Not sure, but we're gonna find out." Daryl banged loudly on the door with his hand. He was pretty sure it was walkers and sure enough in just a few seconds a couple of walkers slammed into the door. Dayna jumped at the sound. Daryl was as calm as ever. The door opened inward so Daryl had just a little trouble pushing it open with the walkers against it, but he managed to shove them out of the way with the force of the door.

His sharp eyes picked up just two decrepit walkers. They must have been in there for a while. He shot the one closest to him with a bolt that flew out of the crossbow and nailed him in the forehead. Just as he was going to take the next one out with his knife, a gun shot came from behind him and the second walker dropped to the ground. Dayna hit it with her first shot.

"Nice," Daryl said. "You sure you need lessons?"

"Lucky shot," Dayna admitted. Daryl chuckled at her words.

There were a few windows in the room that allowed in some light, so they were able to see a little without the flashlights. Daryl walked over to the wall of cages and shown his flashlight inside of one. He immediately saw that's where the horrible odor was coming from. They were filled with dead animals. Dayna looked over his shoulder and sighed "Oh no." It was sad that these animals were never given a chance to survive.

Dayna had to move away from the cages, it was too sad and the smell was still overpowering after all this time. She used her flashlight to help find the drug cabinet that was off to the side. She walked over to it and saw that there was indeed a key needed to open it. "Daryl?" she called out.

"Yeah?" came from so close to her that she jumped.

"Geez…you scared me."

"Well who else was gonna answer you?" he grumbled.

"I just didn't expect you to be right here that's all. Can you help me open this lock? This is the drug case." Dayna stepped back to allow Daryl a look at the lock. She wanted to kill him for scaring her like that. It was bad enough they in this creepily quiet clinic, she didn't need Daryl sneaking up on her.

Daryl took a look at the lock and figured he could break it off if he had a hammer or a pipe or something like that. Then he decided that was the hard way and he was going to do it the easy way. He grabbed a fire extinguisher off the wall and smashed the glass on the doors.

"That was definitely…sorta an option," Dayna said with her hands on her hips. She had her head cocked to the right. It wasn't her first choice to get into the cabinet.

"What?" Daryl said as he cleared the glass from the edges of the door frame "Now you can get to the shelves."

"As long as I don't cut myself on the glass that all over the place," she told him. "You coulda tried breaking the lock first." Men!

Daryl was mumbling something under his breath that Dayna couldn't make out so she was rolling her eyes at his back. He stepped back to let her have access to the cabinet and almost said "Be careful," but he refrained. Women!

Dayna started picking through the drugs and handed out he ones she wanted to Daryl. He then put them on the exam table waiting for her to organize them. Dayna was excited by what she was finding. There were local anesthetics, steroids, antibiotics, valium and several others that made the cut. It was a great stash of medicines for them to bring back. Once Dayna had gone through everything in the cabinet and removed anything that they could remotely use, she turned to look what she had chosen. It would either fill the backpack or come to it with everything else she had found. While she was repacking everything to keep from breaking the vials, she got an idea.

"Hey Daryl, do you see anything else we could use to carry more stuff back. All this stuff is going to fill this I think and I want to bring back as much as we can."

"I'll look around, but there's only so much room on the bike for us to carry shit," he reminded her as he started to search the room. Daryl didn't find anything they could really use. He used his flashlight to search the corners of the room and noticed another door. He saunters over to the door, his crossbow still in his hand and shines the light through the window. It was completely empty. "Dayna?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm gonna bang on this door to see if we got any walkers in this back hall," he lets her know.

"Thanks for the heads up." Dayna flashes him a quick smile before she goes back to sorting her supplies. She was happy that he was giving her a heads up or the unexpected loud sound may have caused her to drop the precious drugs.

Daryl slapped his hand against the metal door three times. _BANG…BANG…BANG._ Then he waited a minute or two, but nothing happened. "I'm going to check this out," he let Dayna know.

"Be careful and yell if you need me," she reminded him.

"Yes, ma," he replied back sarcastically. He checked out the hallway and the couple of rooms that led directly off it. He found another supply room, a kitchen and a couple of offices. There was nothing left to eat in the kitchen so he checked out the larger of the two offices. Over in the corner he noticed a blue duffle bag. He quickly looked through it and saw just a change of clothes, which he promptly dumped out. He headed back to Dayna. "Will this do?"

Dayna turned and her eyes got big. "That is perfect!"

"There's another supply closet down that hallway you may want to check out," he told her.

"Seriously?" Dayna was excited about everything they were finding. These supplies were going to be a big help in the infirmary. "Daryl next time we do this, we need to take a car. I love traveling on your bike, but we can't really bring back much."

Daryl begrudgingly agreed with her. As much as he loved riding his bike and having Dayna on it with him, it wasn't practical if they were looking to pick a lot of supplies. He figured they would have to make a trip back with a car to get everything out of here, plus if they wanted to check other vet offices. "Dayna, let's pack up what we can and we can bring a car back to get everything else another time. Okay?"

Dayna had to be fine with it, as she had no other choice. She hated leaving any of these supplies here in case someone else came in and took them. She just hoped that it would take too long to get back. By the time she had the duffle filled with sterile gauze, bandages, alcohol wipes and anything else she could take from the storeroom it was past time for them to get back on the road.

Neither of them realized how long they were inside until they went back outside. The sun was starting to set and the sky was filled with clouds. Daryl looked up and checked out the sky. "Damn," he said. "We're not going to make it back before dark or it rains. We need to find a place to hold up for the night and it ain't gonna be that vet office. I can't take the smell anymore."

"Where should we go?" asked Dayna. The backpack she held was heavy with meds and supplies, she wasn't looking forward to having it on her back all the way to Alexandria. Now she had another dilemma…spending the night with Daryl. This was something that she really missed after that first week, but she was worried about him. Would he be the Daryl she remembered or the Daryl that he had become?

She turned back to the bike and saw that Daryl had secured his crossbow on the back and the duffle on top of that. It was time to go. "Can you help me get this on, it's heavy?" Dayna asked Daryl.

He turned from the bike, and took the full pack from her hands. It was quite heavy. "Are you sure you can wear this?" he tested the weight in his hands and knew he'd have a hard time wearing it for a long trip himself.

"I'll repack everything later. Just hold it for me so I can get it on and then we can find a place for the night." Daryl held the pack up for her and Dayna slipped her arms through the strap, before buckling it in front of her. Now if she could just get on the bike without falling over, she'd be golden.

Daryl hopped on first and with a little help she was able to get on behind him. "Where are we going?" she asked.

"I'm guessing town it that way," he said pointing down the darkening road. "It's as good a place as any to try. It's getting too late to be out here, we need to find place pretty fast."

As to emphasize Daryl's words large rain drops started to slowly fall. The engine came to life with and Daryl called out for her to hold on. Dayna wrapped her arms around his waist once again and they were off.

It didn't take long for houses to start to appear along the road, but Daryl never stopped. He learned to trust his gut a long time ago and it told him he'd know the place to stop when he saw it. Just as the rain started to come down a little harder he saw what he was looking for.

Dayna had her face pressed against his back and didn't see where he was taking her until he made the turn into a parking lot and the bike stopped. She looked up to see where they were and was surprised. It was a roadside motel. Daryl had pulled down to the far end before parking the bike. He hopped off the bike and turned to give Dayna a hand.

She just looked up at him with her hazel eyes. "Well usually I get a least a dinner date first...but what the hell," Dayna said in a completely serious tone. The twinkle in her eyes gave her away. Daryl laughed. It was something he didn't do often or enough of, but he laughed. He helped her off the bike and took the heavy pack off her back. "Let's go find us a room, Romeo," she said with a smirk. Daryl just followed behind her shaking his head.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Gaining access to the motel rooms wasn't as easy as Daryl had hoped. Some rooms had been broken into, but they were either trashed or the doors couldn't be secured and others were still locked. If he kicked in a door they wouldn't be able to fortify it against anyone or anything, so Daryl decided to go check out the main office to see if he could find a key or another way in. He left Dayna under an overhang by the two rooms he was interested in and he jogged down to where the motel office was. The door was unlocked and a quick sweep of the room didn't show anything but a vandalized mess. He picked his way through the broken chairs and debris to get to the check in desk. The chaos was even worse back there, but he had a purpose. He was moving papers and garbage aside that littered the floor when his boot hit something.

Carefully he uncovered a man's dead body. He kicked the foot several times to make sure that it wasn't alive in any form, but it never moved. He brushed the papers and junk off it and noticed a ring of keys at his belt. He popped them off and looked at them. They seemed to be for motel as several were labeled 'office, housekeeping and master.' BINGO!

Daryl headed back to Dayna hoping the key marked 'Master' would get them into the rooms. He was looking to gain access to two rooms next to each other. He figured they each would be better off with their own. He was trying to be a gentleman about this, when all he really wanted to do was hold Dayna again, touch her…and kiss her. That wasn't in the cards though. He couldn't let it be.

It was pouring out by the time Daryl made it back down to the rooms. Dayna saw the keys in his hand and smiled. "God, I hope those work," she said. "It's miserable out here."

"Me too." Daryl tried the key in the door and it swung open. His ever present crossbow was up in a flash as he cleared the room. It was extremely dusty and outdated, but other than that it was good. It held a small round table with two chairs, a desk, dresser and a king size bed. It looked like it was decorated in the 70's and not touched since. Daryl turned to find Dayna and saw that she stood in the doorway. "C'mon in, it's good."

Dayna walked into the room and put down her heavy pack and the duffle bag. She got confused when Daryl walked out and instead of heading towards the bike, she heard him unlocked the room next door. "What are you doing?" she asked him from the doorway.

Daryl did a thorough check of the second room, before he lowered his weapon and turned to Dayna. "We need two rooms, so now we have them."

"Why?" she questioned him.

Why wasn't this obvious to her? "One for you and one for me."

"Again…why?" There was no way that Dayna was going to spend the night in the room by herself. Even if she didn't have feelings for Daryl she would want the person she was traveling with in the same room as she was…especially someone like Daryl whom she trusted.

"I just thought that…you know…you'd want your own space." He hated that she was making this hard on him. He was trying to be a gentleman for once in his life and she was being stubborn. He wasn't sure he could trust himself if they slept together again. That's why he stayed on the sofa that last night in the house with Sasha and Abraham. He was just too attracted to her, but he knew it wouldn't work. They wouldn't work. He wasn't the right guy for her. Fuck…he probably wasn't the right guy for anyone.

Dayna had a fire in her eyes that Daryl had yet to ever see. "No, I don't want my own room. Why would you think that? We didn't need it last time, so why now?"

"We didn't have the option last time, now we do. I thought…you'd want ...you know, some privacy." He was surprised that she was upset. How could he tell her without embarrassing himself that he couldn't trust himself with her? He respected her too much to make a move on her. She was smart, kind, beautiful and completely out of his league. She deserved better than he could ever be.

Daryl went and opened the door that connected the two rooms from the one side and went into the first room and did the same. "We can keep the doors open," he suggested.

"No."

"You don't want the doors open," Daryl asked completely confused.

"Yes, they can be open…before Daryl could interrupt her she held up her hand silencing him. "No matter what, I would feel more secure with you in the same room I am in. You make me feel safe whenever you are around and having you in a different room is not going to work. So that isn't an option. Got it?"

Daryl was slow to nod his agreement, but he eventually did. This was gonna kill him, but he'd do it for her.

"Why don't you bring the motorcycle in this room? That way no one sees it cause we don't know anything about this area," Dayna proposed. It seemed like a solid idea to her.

"Yeah...good. Can you hold the door so I can bring it in?" Daryl gave himself a silent kick in the ass. He should have thought of that. Dayna held the door open as Daryl ran out into rain to get his bike. He backed it into the room thinking if they needed to make a getaway he could fly right through the thin door this way. He took the old wooden desk chair and placed it under the door knob. Walking into the other room he did the same. It would give them some extra security.

He turned and saw that Dayna was handing him a towel that she must have found in the bathroom. "Dry yourself off with this," she said softly.

Daryl took the towel form her and mumbled, "Thanks." He put his crossbow down before using the towel to dry his face and hair. He had gotten fairly wet when he went out to get the bike. After he dried his hair, he ran the towel down his arms and hands. It was the best he could do. He noticed how wet his shirt was the same time Dayna did.

"This shirt's soaking wet, why don't you take it off so it can dry?" she suggested.

There was no way he was going to go shirtless in front of her. He didn't go without one ever. He wasn't ready to answer the questions that he knew she'd ask. "I got another one in my pack on the bike. I'll get it."

"I can grab it for you, I'm closer."

"No!" he said more forcefully than he meant to. "It's okay, I got it." He didn't meet Dayna eyes as he walked into the other room. He took off his vest and draped it across a chair. Then he bent over next to the bike and unhooked the shoulder pack from snap hooks that secured it to the bike. He dumped most of the contents out on the bed. He grabbed the wrinkled shirt he brought with him and laid it out. He then checked to make sure that Dayna wasn't in the doorway and quickly unbuttoned the wet shirt he had on, dropping it to the floor. Then he swiftly put on the dry shirt, all the time keeping his back away from her view in case she should come into the room. His back and those memories wasn't anything he wanted to share.

Dayna kept herself busy while Daryl changed in the other room. She didn't understand it as guys went shirtless all the time, but if Daryl wanted privacy, then she'd give it to him. Before he locked them in, she had taken the dusty bedspread and shaken it out outside. Now she was putting it back onto the bed inside out to keep the residual dust away from them. No one slept under the covers anymore anyway. It was too confining when you may need to defend yourself at any time.

Daryl came back into the room and started going through the food they had brought with them. He was hungry and he was sure Dayna was too. The breakfast they had this morning was a long time ago. He laid everything out on the small round table. He figured that as long as they got back sometime tomorrow, they were good with food. "We should eat," he said to Dayna. "The room is going to be completely dark soon."

"Yeah, okay," she said absently. Dayna really wanted to reorganize the supplies they just got, but with very little light that was going to be impossible. Unfortunately she would have to wait until morning. "So what do we have to eat?"

"I'm going with the canned raviolis, what about you?" Daryl was using his knife to puncture and remove the top of the can. It was a messy process, but Daryl didn't care. He was just hungry.

Dayna walked over to the table and grabbed a package of tuna for herself. Second guessing herself she checked the expiration date, it was a year ago so Dayna decided it wasn't worth the risk. She tossed it into the garbage can and looked through their supplies again.

"No good?" Daryl asked trying to eat the ravioli with his fingers.

"Too old, I'm not chancing it with tuna." Dayna looked at Daryl and laughed. "Need a fork?"

"Got one?" he asked while licking his fingers.

Dayna about dropped the can she held in her hand as she watched him. He had no idea how sensual that was and…and her inappropriate thoughts were interrupted. "You got a fork?" he asked again. Was that a smirk on his face? She couldn't tell in the dim light.

"Oh…yeah…sure it's in the front zippered compartment of the backpack." Dayna couldn't believe how easily he distracted her. How he caught her zoning out there for a minute! Thank god he didn't know what she was thinking about...those long fingers, his lips and them touching her in all the right places. It took just a split second for those thoughts to take over. Dayna shook her head to bring herself back to the present which meant dealing with Daryl and not fantasizing about what could be. "Can you grab me one too?" she asked absently.

"Already did…take this." Daryl had the utensil in his hand waiting for her to take it from him. "You're not getting weird on me are you?"

"Of course not, I just got sidetracked that's all." She took he fork from him and grabbed the first thing she saw on the table, popped the top and started to eat. " _Shit_ ," she thought to herself. " _Baked beans, why did I have to grab that_?"

They both ate quickly and quietly. It took the edge off the hunger, but it was far from satisfying. The silence in the room started to become a little bit uncomfortable. Daryl tossed his empty can in the garbage and lay down on the bed. Dayna stayed on the chair she was sitting in and put her empty can down on the table. She finished off dinner with a couple swigs of water from her canteen and then sat in silence.

" _This was ridiculous_ "she thought to herself. It wasn't this awkward when she barely knew him in the beginning. Then she got an idea. "Hey Daryl?"

"What?"

"Since I've gotten to know the people in your group better, can you tell me more about them? I think the more I learn about everyone, the more I'll be able to relate to them. I…still kinda feel like an outsider to them," she admitted.

'Yeah...I guess. What do you wanna know?" he asked.

"Well, we can just take each person one at a time and take it from there."

Daryl felt the bed dip as she sat down on the other side. "Okay, who first?"

"The obvious choice is Rick. How did you meet him and how did he become the one in charge?" Rick was their leader and Dayna was truly interested in his story. Dayna had moved to the bed to make conversation easier and also to bring her closer to Daryl. She had one foot on the floor and the other leg bent on the bed while she looked at Daryl. The room was dark, but she could still make out his features. She reached back and pulled the elastic out of her hair to release the ponytail. She shook hair long wavy hair free.

Just as Daryl was going to start to tell her about Rick and the rocky start to their friendship, she took her hair down and then shook it out. Did she not know how sexy that was? God how he loved her long curly brown hair especially when it was hanging down. " _Ah…fuck_ ," he chided himself. Now he was getting a boner and the more he tried to get it to stop, the bigger it got. Never was he more than happy to be in a room without lights, that's the only thing that was saving him from severe embarrassment. Daryl also rolled onto his side facing Dayna so his arm could try to cover it. " _Rick…Rick...talk to her about Rick_ ,"  
he reminded himself.

"Rick and I didn't start out to be friends, not even close to it. I haven't known him an hour when I pulled my knife on him then shortly after he pulled his gun on me," Daryl started to tell her.

"No!" Dayna exclaimed. "What happened?"

"Typical asshole shit and I was the asshole. Back then I had a chip on my shoulder the size of a fuckin' mountain and having Merle's influence didn't help. He was ten times worse than I was. You see his big mouth…" Daryl continued to tell the story or him and Rick and then he'd add other members of the group in. Dayna learned the highs and the very lows that they experienced together. The losses they encountered and he even told her about Beth.

Hours went by with Daryl doing the most of the talking and Dayna asking a question here and there. She could see why they were such a tight knit group. She envied every one of them, especially Maggie's sister Beth.

"I'm sorry about Beth, it sounds like you two were very close," Dayna told him. As stoic as he appeared on the outside most of the time, she would bet anything that he took his personal losses extremely hard.

'We were as opposite as two people could be and she was only seventeen or eighteen, but after the prison we had to rely on each other to survive. Where I saw negative, she saw positive and it drove me crazy…until one day I got it and her. I finally understood where she was coming from and it changed me." He meant every word he said. He had never told anyone about his time with Beth before, not even Maggie or Rick, but he felt he could open up to Dayna.

"She must have meant a lot to you?" Dayna didn't want to pry, but she had to know. What did he feel or still feel for this girl?

"Yeah…she did, still does. It doesn't get easy when we lose the good ones, but you just keep on living. She was the little sister I never had." If Dayna could see him in the dark, she would have seen a smile on his normally serious face. Beth could always do that to him.

Dayna closed her eyes in thanks. He mourned Beth as a sister, not as anything more. _Thank you_!

They had been talking for hours and Dayna had finally lain down next to Daryl to get comfortable. He had returned to lying on his back with one knee bent and she was on her side facing him. "I have one final question for you?" she asked him.

"I haven't talked enough?" he laughed. This was the most relaxed he ever remembered being. She was so easy to talk to and didn't push him to go where he didn't want to go with his stories of the group. He hadn't told her of Joe and that gang that he got mixed up with after Beth…nor would he ever.

"Why doesn't Carol like me? I don't think I've done anything to offend her, but what's her deal?" Dayna asked. Carol was a key member of Daryl's 'family' and she had to figure out what was going on with her.

How does he explain the bond he and Carol have without talking about the abuse they both went through? It wasn't up to him to spill Carol's secrets. "Well…Carol's very protective of the group and me. Her life was pretty bad before the turn, like mine was and she's a completely different person now than she as then. It takes her a little longer to trust people. Has she been outta line with you, cause I'll talk to her," he said. After Rick, Carol was his best friend, but she could be too hard on people at times...harder than he was. He didn't want her to give Dayna a hard time. If she was he would out an immediate stop to it.

"No, she's been perfectly civil to me, but not overly friendly like the rest. It's just that gut feeling I have that she rather I not be part of the group," Dayna admitted.

Daryl felt bad that she felt that way. He turned his head to look at her lying next to him and as usual his bangs feel into his face. He froze as Dayna simply reached out and brushed them aside. That gentle simple gesture touched him. "She'll come around, don't worry," he told her. "Hey it's getting late, we should get some sleep."

"You're right. Thanks for talking with me, I feel I know everyone better…even you." She leaned over and gave him a gentle kiss on his unshaven cheek. "Goodnight," she said softly and rolled on her other side to give him some space.

Daryl completely went against everything that he had told himself he wasn't going to do and reached over and pulled her back to him, so they lay spooning…again. He couldn't help himself as this felt so right, even though it was so wrong in his head. "Goodnight," he whispered in her ear.

They both drifted off to sleep with smiles on their faces.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Dayna slowly awoke in the darkened old motel room. She had no idea how long she had been asleep, but her body felt a little bit stiff from lying in the same position all night. A smile gradually spread across her face as she realized she was still in Daryl's strong arms. Nothing surprised her more last night then when they went to bed and Daryl rolled over behind her and pulled her body tight to his. She absolutely loved the feel of his lean muscular body against hers. It made her feel safe, protected and more than anything she hoped it was because he wanted her just like she wanted him.

Dayna could tell that Daryl was still asleep, as she could hear his soft steady breathing. Slowly and very carefully she turned over so that she was now facing him. She gently touched his face and brushed his hair back and marveled at this unique man. He was rough around the edges, a loner, but he has a heart of gold when it comes to this friends. As odd as it was for her to be attracted to him, he was the guy she wanted. The second she closed her eyes, she fell back sound asleep still encased in his arms.

Sunlight was filtering in behind the hideous curtains that blocked the outside world from the room within. Daryl woke up with Dayna wrapped in his arms, but somehow during the night she had turned around to face him. Her face was nestled into his neck and shoulder. He looked down at her beautiful face and was certain that a woman like her would never want to end up with a rough guy like him, but here she was. He wanted her more than he had ever wanted a woman in his life. The emotions that he was experiencing were completely foreign to him and it scared him to death. People he had cared about had hurt him his entire life, could he chance opening his heart again?

Daryl had never intentionally slept overnight with a woman before he met Dayna, except the once or twice he had passed out drunk instead of leaving the woman's bed he had picked up from some dive bar. He never fucked around like his brother Merle did, but occasionally he'd find someone to screw and he was gone as quickly as he could. He had never had anything that resembled a relationship, nor had he ever met anyone that he wanted one with...that was until he met Dayna. What he wanted and what he should do was a battle he continued to fight within himself.

He watched as the beautiful woman in his arms woke up, her long lashes fluttering as she pulled herself out of her deep comfortable slumber. Her sleepy face turned into a soft smile when she saw him watching her. "Mornin'," she said snuggling on closer to him.

Daryl thought his heart stopped for a moment before it started rapidly pounding inside his chest. He wondered if she felt it, then thought how could she not? She was throwing his emotions all over the place by simply being there. He knew he was a goner. Then he did the only thing he could, the one thing he had resisted doing for weeks…he leaned in and kissed her. Daryl was preparing himself for Dayna to push him away or yell at him, he was ready for anything except what she did do which was deepen the kiss.

Dayna was surprised when Daryl had pressed his lips to hers. She had wanted this so bad, but couldn't bring herself to make the first move. Her hand automatically reached for him first caressing his coarse unshaven cheek and slowly meandering into his long shaggy hair. Finally she wrapped her arms around his neck holding him tightly. His lips were softer and gentler than she expected, his passion for her coming through each kiss… every touch…and every second they were entwined together.

Never in his whole life had Daryl ever reacted this way to a woman. He never wanted to stop holding her, touching her…kissing her. His hands wanted to move…to explore her, but he was afraid of breaking this incredible moment. Deep inside he was afraid that Dayna was going realize she was making a huge mistake and pull away, but everything she did said otherwise. Even when she pressed her hips to his, she didn't shy away when she felt his hard erection. It was the best thing that had ever happened to Daryl.

They were both lost in their powerful emotions for each other never breaking the kiss that affected each of them so intensely. Daryl let his hands wander over Dayna's arms, back and then her hips, but never venturing further. This was not meant to be a fast or hurried time together, it needed to be savored…cherished and never forgotten. No matter what, they'd have this morning together he thought.

Dayna's lips moved from his and he felt their immediate loss, until they traveled leaving tiny kisses on his face and neck until she pulled away panting to catch her breath. Daryl was equally breathing hard as he pulled her close to him and they just held onto each other. "Don't let me go, Daryl," she whispered to him. "Please don't ever let me go."

"I won't… I can't, but I don't understand how you want this….with me." It was the most honest he had ever been with what he was feeling. He was tired of bottling everything up inside.

"And I don't understand why you constantly put yourself down. Why wouldn't I want this…with you?" Dayna asked him. Did he not know how incredible he was?

"You're smart and beautiful and so fucking out of my league. What are you doing with me, Dayna? Me? I'm nothing but a bad bet…all Dixon men are." Why did that devil that made things go wrong in his life have to take over now? Why couldn't he sit back and enjoy some happiness for change? No the fucker had to come out and say shit that Dayna didn't need to hear.

Dayna grabbed his face and pressed her hungry lips to his. He needed to know how she felt about him, that she wanted him. "Daryl…you are one of the…" Dayna didn't get to finish as Daryl clamped his hand across her mouth.

"Shh..." he whispered in her ear.

Dayna's eye got huge as she heard what Daryl's finely tuned ears had already picked up…voices and then a gunshot! The words were muffled to begin with, but slowly became easier to understand. It was two men talking right outside their room. Daryl rolled off the bed and grabbed his crossbow immediately standing between the door and the window. Dayna crouched on the floor next to bed, waiting to take her cues from Daryl. The door knob rattled.

"Should we kick it in," a strange voice said.

"Maybe later, let's check down here first," came a second deeper voice.

Slowly Daryl pulled the edge of the frayed curtain away from the wall. He saw two men walking towards the office and the trashed motel rooms that he had passed up yesterday. There were several walkers in the parking lot headed towards them. One of them aimed his pistol at them and took them out one at a time. "Dave, stop wasting bullets," Daryl heard the other guy say. "Use your knife, dumbass. The sound is attracting more of them…look," he said pointing across the road.

Daryl followed where he pointed and sure enough walkers were headed towards the motel. Way more than he was comfortable with. He turned to look at Dayna who eyes where big as saucers. He motioned for her to pack up the food they had left out. "We need to get outta here fast," he whispered to her.

While Dayna gathered up the food, he went in to the other room and strapped the heavy back pack to the back of the bike with a bungee cord. The crossbow that he normally kept there wasn't going to be leaving his side. Dayna was going to have to keep the duffle bag with her, but it wasn't as heavy as the backpack was.

He could see that she was frightened. "We'll be okay, just follow my lead," he said trying to reassure her. Quickly Daryl took the shoulder bag that held the food and put it over her head and on her right shoulder. The duffle went the opposite way. Dayna just stood there waiting for Daryl to tell her what to do, she was terrified.

" _Think, Dixon think_!" he said to himself. They just had to get out of there and away from both the invading walkers and the men with the guns without getting killed. He knew of two men, he hoped there weren't more. The voices had faded away so he had no idea exactly where they were. Daryl took a look out the window of the room where his bike was. Thank God, Dayna suggested that they bring it inside. He noticed that the parking lot was even with the grass that led to the curb. All he had to do was drive the bike straight through the lot, over the grass and off the curb and onto the street. He could do it and Dayna would just have to hang on.

He turned to her quietly explaining the plan. She nodded that she understood. He gave her a quick hug, which was completely out of character for him, to help reassure her that he had it under control.

He hoped.

Daryl took another look out the window before heading to the door. He didn't see anything except the walkers. Slowly and as quietly as he could he opened the door and carefully looked to the right where the men had gone. They were nowhere in sight.

He rolled the motorcycle to the doorway and when the rear wheel was barely outside, Daryl helped Dayna onto the back of the bike. He jumped in front of her, with his crossbow in front of him instead on his back where it usually was. Dayna arms immediately wrapped around him as the engine came to life.

All the walkers automatically turned towards the noise and started heading towards them. Daryl took off through the parking lot as shouting came from behind them. A gunshot whizzed past them as they hit the grass and the uneven ground. They were extremely lucky the shot went wide. The bike bumped across the grass as Daryl struggled to keep control. Finally they flew off the curb and hit pavement. Once they were on the road, Daryl hit the throttle hard so they flew down the street and away from the danger the motel presented.

Daryl didn't stop. The bike flew mile after mile towards home …towards Alexandria.

Dayna stayed firmly attached to Daryl the entire time. They had another close call. Their lives were way too full of close calls and it was starting to wear on her, but she knew she could always count on Daryl. They didn't say a word to each other during the entire trip back, each lost in their own thoughts. Dayna was scared, yet ecstatic as her relationship with Daryl had finally taken a big step forward. She was looking forward to being back in Alexandria with them so they could take it further.

Daryl on the other hand was having completely different thoughts. He battled himself the entire trip back to Alexandria. He had never been as attracted to a woman as he was to Dayna. Then again he had never known anyone as classy as she was. He still could not believe that an educated hot woman like she is would want a drop out redneck like him. Would she wake up and wonder what the hell she had gotten herself into? " _She probably will_ ," the voice in his head told him. " _What do you have to offer her? What do you have in common? Could you even have a decent conversation with her_? _Hell he barely had conversations anyway._ "

These thoughts ran through his head mile after mile and when he was finally approaching Alexandria he made his decision. He wasn't sure it was the right one, but it was the one he felt he needed to make. The front gate opened as they approached it and Daryl slowed down the bike as they passed through. His face bore no hint of emotion as he drove up to the infirmary and stopped. Dayna slowly got off, stiff from the ride.

"God, I'm glad we are back," Dayna said to Daryl with a tired smile. She pulled the duffle bag off her shoulder and stretched.

"Yeah," Daryl mumbled as he unhooked the heavy back pack filled with medical supplies from the back of the bike. He took the duffle from Dayna and brought both supply bags inside the infirmary. He dumped them on the floor in front of Denise.

"You found supplies!" Denise exclaimed. "What did you get?"

"Ask Dayna," Daryl said sharply. He quickly turned to leave the room and met Dayna in the doorway.

"Hey, where ya going?" she asked him touching his arm.

"Not sure." He had to get out of there and away from Dayna before he changed his mind.

Dayna automatically sensed a change in him. Something was definitely wrong. "Daryl, what's wrong?"

"Nuthin', I just gotta go," he responded solemnly shaking her hand from his arm.

"No!" she said firmly. "Talk to me. What's going on?" She took in his stony expression and knew something had changed. This was not the same man she woke up to this morning.

His steely blue eyes met hers. "I just gotta go."

He went to move past her and she put a hand out to stop him. Dayna clearly saw the anger that flashed into his eyes. _What the hell was going on with him_? "Why are you being such a jackass to me?" she demanded.

"Because I am one. Get used to it," he growled and pushed his way out the door.

Dayna stood there in shock and watched as he stalked back to his bike. Without a look back at her, Daryl got on and took off towards the front gate. The guard opened it for him and he disappeared from sight. Dayna stood there shocked on what had just happened. _Where was the man she saw this morning, because that guy sure wasn't him_?

Tears gathered in Dayna's eyes as her world crumbled around her. She had no idea what had just happened, but she knew it wasn't good. A hand appeared on her shoulder and Dayna turned to see Denise's eyes full of sympathy. She just crumbled right there as Denise comforted her. She knew Daryl had just driven right out of her life…literally and she had no idea why.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

Daryl parked the motorcycle next to the only place he knew he could go to, the green house just outside the walls. He covered the bike with a tarp and strutted inside. He was angry. Angry at himself…angry at his life and basically pissed off at the whole entire fuckin' world. Why did life have to suck so badly for him?

The light was dim inside the house, but he could still see. Daryl tossed the crossbow on the old dingy sofa. He then started to pace in the living room going from one end to the other as his rage took over. As usual he nibbled on his right thumbnail while he walked in angry circles. He knew he had fucked everything up and the sad part was he did it on purpose. He had a running conversation going on in his head as he walked back and forth. He didn't need a chick like Dayna in his life, even though he wanted her…wanted her like he had never wanted another woman before, but it would never have work out between them. He knew that once she got to know him better she'd realize where and what he came from and once she saw the scars on his back she'd figure how fucked up he was.

He'd trusted his friends with his life, just not anyone with his heart. He couldn't take being that broken again. His real family had betrayed him his entire life and wasn't going to let that happen another time. His mother was only ever interested in drinking and let him and Merle run wild. His father beat him at the slightest thing that pissed him off until Daryl finally ran away. His only brother, who should have had his back, treated him like he was he was stupid and beneath him. Always talking down to him and not giving him any credit for anything that he did. He hated his family and what they had done to him. His anger and fury simply overflowed and everything on the end table by the sofa went flying.

He sat down into the chair and hung his head in his hands. What was he going to do? This hard shell he created around his heart and emotions all these years had to remain. Right? He couldn't chance it. Everyone thought he was so strong, so stoic, but he really wasn't. He was great at putting on that I-don't–give-a-shit attitude with everyone, but deep down he really did. Dayna had come close to chipping away at that wall he had created around him…real close, but he yanked it back in place when it started to slip. He knew she liked him, but that was never going to be enough.

Daryl was not thinking clearly or he would have realized that while his birth family had failed him miserably, his new family…his post-apocalyptic family of Rick, Glenn, Carol and the others hadn't. He had let them into his life and heart and they hadn't let him down. He didn't recognize that he loved them and he was truly capable of finding love if he just would stop fighting it.

He knew he had been a dick to Dayna and she didn't deserve it. If they hadn't been interrupted at the motel, they would have ended up having sex. She was willing, he was more than willing, but in the end it was for the best. She wasn't the one night stand type of girl and even though he wanted more than a one-time fuck from her…way more, he found he just couldn't do it. He couldn't chance being hurt that bad again, so instead he lashed out all around him and he hurt her instead. He knew Dayna was confused and that he owed her an apology, but he knew she'd never get it. He had to stay away from her or risk losing what little control he had left. He was scum and a total dick when it came to Dayna. Just another day of being a Dixon.

Daryl kept pacing back and forth getting more worked up every second. He hated himself. He hated that he had hurt Dayna. He hated being this messed up. He needed to do something. He ran his fingers through his shaggy hair, realizing once again how long it had gotten. With long strides he walked to the mirror on the wall and took a look at himself. All he saw was a bum. His hair was too long, he never shaved and even though he could never grow a beard like Rick did, he was still scruffy and unkempt. His clothes were old and ripped…all because he didn't care. Dayna deserved someone who cared and that wasn't him. He didn't care about shit.

Then he did the first thing that he thought of… he turned and punched the wall. Pain instantly shot through his hand. Dust and pieces of drywall covered the front of him. He knew he was stupid to have done that and damn lucky he missed the stud. He removed his hand from the hole and more drywall fell to the floor. His hand was sore, bruised and his knuckles were bloodied, but apparently he didn't break anything as he slowly opened and closed his fist. He was an idiot.

He strode over the sofa and plopped down on it, careful not to sit on his crossbow. All he needed now was a bolt in his ass that would seal his fate as the biggest loser ever. He laid his head back on the cushion closed his eyes as he lifted his left hand to move the damned hair off his face. His shoulder joint gave a twinge of pain reminding him that it was still healing after he dislocated it, of course that made him think of Dayna. He stayed that way the rest of the day and night his shoulder sore, his slightly busted up hand in his lap and his heart completely broken by his own actions.

* * *

When Daryl left without any explanation to Dayna she was utterly shattered. She just stood in the doorway watching him leave. It was so unexpected after the incredible morning they shared, and absolutely confusing. She left Denise to unpack the supplies as she slowly walked home in a daze. When she was almost home she heard someone calling out to her and turned and saw Rick on the porch with Judith in his arms.

"Was the trip successful?" he asked.

"Yeah, I guess," she answered softly.

Rick knew something was wrong with Dayna. She looked out of it and lost. "Are you okay?" he asked.

She turned to look at him with huge sad eyes. Something told Rick that It had to do with Daryl who was nowhere in sight. He hadn't missed the looks that passed between these last few weeks. Rick wasn't sure what was going on, but he was going to find out. When Dayna didn't answer him he took a step down off of the porch. "Hey, why don't you come in so we can talk?"

"I don't know Rick. I kinda just want to go to my room," she told him.

Rick tilted his head slightly and with a more authoritative voice said, "Dayna, come inside so we can talk."

Dayna knew it was no longer a question, but a more of an order. She turned her tired body towards the house and followed Rick into the library where they had talked before. He placed Judith in a playpen with her toys so he could give Dayna his full attention. He sat down on the sofa and Dayna took the chair she sat in last time across from him.

Rick got right to the point. "Where's Daryl?"

Tears immediately welled up in her brown eyes. "I don't know."

"You came back with him right? What's going on Dayna?" Rick didn't want to upset her anything further, but he needed answers about the guy that was like a brother to him. Daryl was more loyal and trustworthy than Shane had ever been and they had been best friends to since grade school. That was until Shane tried to kill him. "Is Daryl alright?"

"Yes. But I don't know where he is," she said softly.

"Tell me what happened…from the start." Rick didn't take his eyes off her.

Dayna felt the intensity from Rick's steel blue eyes. The sooner she told him what happened, the sooner she could head to her room and away from everyone. Dayna explained about how they had to go as far as Oak Valley to find what they needed. Supply-wise the trip was very successful. She told him how they had to stay overnight in an old motel and in the morning they had been woken up by voices and gunshots. They managed to escape and drove straight back here. "Daryl dropped off the bags of supplies to Denise and then he just rode back through the front gate and left. He didn't say anything to me on where he was going. He didn't say anything at all." Dayna did he best to hold back the tears.

Rick knew a broken heart when he saw one. It did surprise him that something had happened between them even though he saw the looks. Daryl had never shown any interest in getting involved with anyone before, but Dayna had proved herself to be a great addition to the group plus she was beautiful. For Daryl to have taken off without talking to him meant something serious had gone down. Hopefully, his right hand man would be back soon.

"That's Daryl. He comes and goes as he pleases. Always does…always will." Rick didn't think his words would help her, but this wasn't anything he was comfortable talking about. He was a guy after all.

"Thanks, Rick. Can I go?" she asked.

"Sure and thanks for making the run," he told her.

Dayna tried to smile at him, but it didn't quite work. She got up and walked to the door to leave. Meanwhile on the other side of the door, Carol ran back to the kitchen. She had seen the two of them come in and was curious to know what was going on. Her ear to the door meant she heard the entire conversation, but she was confused on what happened with Daryl. She pretended to be washing her hands when Dayna walked through the room to the front door. Dayna never acknowledged her which was uncharacteristic of her. Carol was sure that Dayna hadn't even seen her even though she was there in plain sight.

"Damn you Daryl," she said to no one as she dried her hands on a towel. She also knew what a broken heart looked like and Dayna was it. Something big must have happen while they were on their run. Carol had quietly watched over the past few weeks Daryl watching Dayna when she was around and Dayna watching Daryl. She had thought that Dayna would be the one to hurt Daryl, she never expected Daryl to be the one who did the hurting. Carol thought that Dayna looked actually devastated and could certainly use a friend. She wasn't that person, but she knew someone who was.

* * *

Sasha stood outside Dayna's door with her hand raised to knock. She hesitated for a moment. Should she give Dayna some space or would someone for her to talk to be the better option? If Dayna didn't want to talk, then she's just let her know that she was around if she changed her mind. Sasha was surprised when Carol sought her out. Carol hadn't really warmed up to Dayna yet, so it was completely unexpected when she asked Sasha to help her. Maybe things had changed with Carol. All she told Sasha was that Dayna and Daryl were back from their run, but Daryl had taken off again and left Dayna looking distraught. Maybe she could use someone to talk to.

Sasha softly knocked on the door. "Dayna? It's Sasha. Can I come in?"

Just when Sasha was going to knock again, the door knob turned and Dayna slowly opened the door. "Hey," she said softly. "This really isn't a good time."

Sasha immediately took in the red rimmed eyes, the scrunched up tissue in her hand and overall sadness Dayna had all over her face. "That's why I'm here. I think you need a friend," Sasha told her as she walked past Dayna not even giving her a chance to say no. Something wrong had happened and Sasha needed to find out and help her friend through it.

Dayna slowly closed the door and sat down on the end of her bed, her eyes staring down at the floor. "I'm sorry. There's no reason for me to be upset…I…I just need to get my shit together." Dayna tried to force a smile at Sasha, but it just didn't work. She wasn't sure why she was so upset. She and Daryl had never spoken of a commitment, nothing between them had even gotten that far. It was just one incredibly awesome make-out session that she thought meant as much to him as it did her. Apparently she was wrong.

"Tell me what happened," Sasha encouraged her. She joined Dayna at the end of the bed. This room wasn't big enough to have a sitting area like hers did. It was comfortable, but not as large as the rooms in the other house. "Even if it takes a whole box of tissues, I'm here to listen, help and be your shoulder to cry on. Okay?"

Dayna nodded yes as she wiped her teary eyes with yet another tissue.

"Okay, last I knew you and Daryl for headed out for a medical supply run. You're back, did he make back?"

"Yes."

"So you both are safe. That's good. Can I guess that something happened with Daryl while you were gone?" Sasha asked. Dayna again nodded yes. "Tell me what happened?"

Dayna wiped her eyes again, mad at herself for what surely is an overreaction to Daryl's behavior. She took a deep breath before starting. "The supply run was successful, but we had to go far out and couldn't make it back here before nightfall, so we found an old roadside motel to spend the night. He wanted two rooms...I didn't. I convinced him that I really needed him in the same room for safety, and he agreed. Honestly, Sasha I would have felt that way if I was with you or Glenn. I didn't want to be alone. So we stashed the bike in the other room, opened the connecting door for easy access and spent the rest of the evening talking."

"Daryl talked?" Sashes asked surprised.

A smile came to Dayna lips. "Yeah, he did believe it or not. I asked him to tell me more about everyone in the group. I'm getting to know everyone and I figured it was a safe topic. He talked non-stop."

"Completely weird, but go on."

"Finally we decided to go to sleep, so I took the right side of the bed and he had the left. I'm curled up on my side to give him…you know his space and all of a sudden he reaches out and pulls me against him so we are spooning. This was no accident, Sasha he did it on purpose. And I feel asleep with a huge smile on my face. "

Sasha reached over and squeezed Dayna hand. She knew that Dayna had it bad for Daryl. "So far, so good?" she said.

"Exactly. We woke up the next morning pretty close to dawn still together, except I must have turned during the night and I was facing him. He was watching me when I woke up and I simply told him 'Good morning'. Then he leaned into me and gave me the most incredible kiss I had ever had. I felt it to my toes!" Dayna could see that Sasha was trying not to laugh, which made Dayna smile. "I know, I know...this is Daryl I'm talking about. The man without social graces, who is as intense as they come and looks like a dirty, but very hot bum. That Daryl blew my socks off with that kiss."

"Just shows you never know about some people," Sasha laughed. "I never pegged Daryl to be a good kisser, but then again it wasn't anything I ever thought about with him either. I just can't picture Daryl and romance."

"We never got to any romance, so that's still up in the air. We just kissed for a long time and it was awesome. But then we got interrupted by some people outside the room. To make a long story short, we basically ended up flying out of the room on the motorcycle and took off as they shot at us. Thank God they missed."

Sasha's eye grew big as she realized the danger they had been in. "So when did it fall apart?"

"When we got back," Dayna told her. "We drove straight back here and didn't stop, so we never had a chance to talk. When Daryl pulled up in front of the infirmary, I thought we were good, no make that better than good, but he was suddenly different…he was cold and I had no idea why. He dropped the supply bags in front of Denise and went to leave without even talking to me. I stopped him and asked what was wrong. He wouldn't tell me, he just kept saying that nothing was wrong, that he had to go. He was angry and I was confused and when he was rude and nasty to me I asked him why was he acting like a jackass or something like that. Do you know what he said to me?"

"What?"

"Because I am one, get used to it he said. Then he took off on his bike back out the gate and I haven't seen him since. I have no idea what I did to make him act that way?" Tears started to flow down Dayna's cheeks again.

"There's a little bit here of Daryl acting like Daryl. You haven't known him long, but he's different than any of the other guys. From what I've heard he's always been that way. He tends to be a loner, closed off to people and one of the kids at the prison pegged him perfectly…surly. I've never known him to show any interest in a female ever, so you were a surprise." Sasha got up to walk around a little and organize her thoughts. She had an idea of what may have happened but it was just that an idea with no solid proof.

"You could tell he was interested in me? Really?" Dayna asked hopefully. She attempted to dry her tears again. _"Quit acting like a lovesick, broken-hearted teenager_ ," She told herself. " _You're better than this_."

"Hell yeah, we noticed. Lately he's been a bit more grumpy than usual, but he never could take his eyes off you." Sasha grinned at Dayna. "Even Glenn noticed and said something to Maggie and he doesn't ever pick up on stuff like that."

"Wow," Dayna said surprised. "So why do you think he's acting like a jerk now?"

"I think and this is only a guess," Sasha started, but hesitated for a moment. "I think he's scared."

"Nothing scares Daryl Dixon, Sasha. You know that."

"Walkers, danger, crazy people and this whole damned apocalypse doesn't scare Daryl…but I think how he's feeling about you does. Think about it, it's the only thing that makes sense.

Dayna thought for a minute. Sasha may be onto something and the more that sounded plausible, the better Dayna felt. "I never thought of that. It kinda does makes sense, don't you think?"

"It does," Sasha told her. "But ultimately you're going to need to talk to him. That's the only way to find out for sure."

Dayna threw her arms around Sasha. "Thank you, thank you! This makes me feel better. You can count in me tracking him down whenever he decided to return. No matter what he owes me an explanation."

Sasha got up to leave, but before she could Dayna asked her a question. "Hey Sash, how did you know that I was …umm, having problems?"

"Carol." Sasha saw Dayna's eyes light up in surprise. "Yeah, Carol found me and said that she thought you could use a friend."

"I didn't see that coming from her," Dayna said honestly.

"Carol is actually a great person and loyal to the group to a fault. I think she finally realized that you are no threat to anyone, including Daryl." They both hugged before Sasha opened the door and left with a "Catch ya later."

Dayna sat on the edge of her bed, and then lay down on her back her eyes staring at the ceiling. She twirled a piece of her long hair in her fingers while she thought about everything. This had been a crazy few days and her over-reacting to Daryl's departure was stupid. Yes, she thought they were headed into a relationship, but apparently that may not work for Daryl. They had no promise or commitment between them, so she had no reason to be upset. She's wait him out, no matter how long it took. In the meantime, she'd go about her day as if nothing happened, but they would talk. She deserved that.

In a much better frame of mind, Dayna sat up and realized that she was still in the same grimy clothes from yesterday. It was time to take a shower and then maybe get something to eat. She was starved. It would be a good time to thank Carol too. The day wasn't a complete loss after all. She made a friend.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

Dayna used the black pen in her hand to mark off another day on her handmade calendar that was taped to the wall in her room. Thirty days. Thirty long miserable Daryl-less days. He avoided her like the plague. Sure she caught glimpses of him walking down the street or leaving the room she had entered, but there were never in the same place at the same time except for very few occasions. Dayna refused to live her life chasing him. If he couldn't bring himself to accept what the two of them had, then it was going to be his loss. Dayna was not going to tiptoe around him. It was his problem, not hers.

Sure she was sad, make that devastated that he never came back to her, but she never showed it. That was something she would cry about in the privacy of her room, otherwise she was smiling and happy on the outside. She went where she needed to go and visited the other house and her friends over there when she wanted. It was rare for her to come across Daryl even though he lived there.

Oddly enough one of her greatest allies was Carol. She would let Dayna know what was going on with him, without her having to ask. Everyday conversation with Carol would include who was doing what that day including Daryl. From what Carol had been telling her Daryl was gone now a lot more than he used to be. If he wasn't recruiting, which Rick had allowed him and Aaron to begin again, he was out doing supply runs. That's exactly what it seemed like to Dayna that Daryl was running...running away from her and from himself.

The one thing that Carol never volunteered was why. Why was Daryl the way he was? Dayna had a feeling that Carol knew or at least had an idea, but there was no way she was going to ask Carol to betray her friendship with him. Dayna surely would be on the losing side of that.

Dayna checked her appearance in the mirror before heading out. It was wonderful to have to worry about that again and not who or what was trying to kill her. Knowing she looked as good as it was going to get, Dayna left the room and her house and headed to the house next door like she did every morning.

Maggie and Carol were in the kitchen as they were every day. "Hey girls," Dayna called out. "How's it going?"

"It's going," Carol responds with a smile. "Want something to eat?"

"Thanks, but no. I need to get to the infirmary soon. Denise and I are going over inventory today, but I wanted to stop in, say hello and see what's going on." Dayna folded and refolded the kitchen towel that was on the counter. This was the one time a day that she could talk to them about Daryl without really talking about him. She didn't want to be obvious.

Maggie looked at Carol before she turned to Dayna. "They didn't come back from the supply run yesterday, but that's happened before."

Dayna felt her heart drop. She was pretty sure Daryl had gone on that run. "Who's on the run?" she asked hesitantly. " _Please don't be Daryl or Glenn_ ," she silently prayed.

"Rosita, Heath, Sheri, Martin and….Daryl," Maggie told her.

Dayna eyes automatically shot to Carol. "I'm sure they're fine," Carol said trying to reassure Dayna and herself. "Runs don't always go according to plan, we all know that. It happened to you too. All we can do is sit back and wait. If they don't get back today, then maybe Rick will send out a search party, but I'm sure they are fine." Carol rinsed out the cup she had been drinking from. "Daryl can take care of himself better than anyone we know. He'll be back just fine."

"I'm…sure he will. The others too. I'm...not worried," Dayna lied.

"Bullshit," Carol said surprising Dayna and Maggie. "Of course you're worried, we all are, but I can see it all over your face that you are very concerned about Daryl. Of course you are, you're in love with him."

Maggie's eye got huge and kept looking between Carol and Dayna. While Dayna stood there with her mouth open, shocked that Carol knew what she never told another person. "How did…no wait Carol your wrong...I don't " and just before Dayna could say that she didn't love Daryl, Carol raised her eyebrows silently daring her to refute it. "Damn it Carol…of course I love that annoying, aggravating man. I have no idea why, because he hates me… but I do." Dayna sat down into a chair defeated. Her secret was no longer a secret.

"Wait," Maggie said. "You are in love with Daryl? Daryl Dixon…our Daryl? When, why and how did I not know this? I mean we all saw the looks between you both early on, but I thought that fizzled out."

"More like exploded," Carol said with a sly smile.

Dayna laughed at her friends. "To answer you Maggie, when...most likely since he saved me that day on the road. Why? I have no idea. I mean I do, but since he's acting like a jackass to me and avoids me at any cost, I have no idea why I still do, but damn it I do still love that stupid redneck. And the why I didn't tell you, I told no one."

"Carol knew!" Maggie responded. She was slightly upset that Carol knew and she didn't. She thought she and Dayna were better friends.

"Carol guessed, right Carol?" Dayna offered as an explanation.

"If you watched Dayna when Daryl was around she couldn't keep her eyes off him and Daryl was doing the same thing when Dayna wasn't looking. I also always suspected that something went on between them when they made that supply run too," Carol explained. She wasn't going to mention Dayna's sadness after that supply run and how she sent Sasha to help her. If Dayna wanted Maggie to know that, then she could tell her.

"Come to think of it, you're right Carol. I can't believe you didn't say anything to me, Dayna. We need good juicy gossip around here! So…" Maggie said with a sly smile, "What happened during that overnight run?"

Dayna thought for a moment. How much of her and Daryl's personal business did she want out there? "Well, let's just say that something started that was never finished and it looks like it most likely will stay that way and not by my choice."

"God, men can be so stupid sometimes!" Maggie laughed. "I know Daryl is a bit…different with some things, but you're gorgeous how can he pass that up? He was interested, right?"

Dayna and Carol both laughed along with Maggie. "Oh believe me he was interested, but something happened on the trip back here that I am clueless about and he won't have really anything to do with me now. It's sad and honestly it hurts," Dayna admitted losing her smile. "Oh no I'm late," she said quickly wiping her eyes from the unexpected tears. "I gotta get to work. Thank you for your support, ladies. It means a lot." Dayna flashed a quick smile at Carol and Maggie and headed out the door.

Maggie turned to Carol, "Is he stupid or what? She's perfect for Daryl."

"I know," Carol agreed. "I may need to do a bit of prodding, but he's been more closed off lately than ever. I don't know what's going on with him at all."

They both their heads turned as Glenn came down the stairs looking for Maggie. He was greeted with a kiss from his wife and they both said good-bye to Carol and left the house. Carol sat down for a moment pondering what to do with Daryl. He could be stubborn and his own way of doing things, but she knew he needed someone in his life. He needed to know what it felt like to be loved. At least she felt that way early on in her marriage to Ed, even though she ended up in an abusive situation. She had to find a way to get through to him and she knew that would not be easy.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

Dayna strolled down the empty street towards infirmary, she knew she was late but she and Denise didn't really punch a time clock, so a few minutes here or there never mattered. There was a chill in the air that made her glad she had on a light jacket. Winter was right around the corner and Dayna was grateful that she had a place to stay warm this year. She didn't want to experience another winter outdoors again. Alexandria was a godsend to her.

When she entered the infirmary building she saw that Denise was talking to woman that she had seen around but didn't really know, so she went into the supply room to give them some privacy. If she was needed, then Denise would call her. She pulled the inventory pad from the shelf and slowly started counting supplies and noting their amounts. Once they had an accurate idea on what they had and what was needed they could give the list to Glenn so they could keep an eye out for the items during runs.

Last week Dayna had found a surprise delivery outside the door to the infirmary when she arrived that morning to open up. There were two duffle bags filled with supplies and meds. She recognized they were from the two veterinary offices she and Daryl had visited but they didn't have the room to bring back everything. It made her sad to think that he had gone back without her. Dayna appreciated that he went back to get them, but she had wished he had asked her to go with him.

What had gone wrong? She wished she had a clue on what had happened between them. One minute all was good between them, no make that awesome and then it was gone in a flash. Sure they were getting hot and heavy and guys loved that, but she could never imagine Daryl just using her for the sex that never happened. Dayna just knew he wasn't like that. Something had scared him off and no matter how hard she tried to figure it out, she had no idea what it could be.

Dayna heard the outside door close and figured that the patient had left, but she continued doing inventory in the supply room. She needed this monotonous work to help keep her mind off Daryl. She was counting boxes of surgical gloves when Denise joined her in the room. "Thanks for getting started," Denise told her. "Connie Stark said she felt dizzy this morning and wanted me to check her out. Didn't find anything…as usual."

"She's been in for that before?" Dayna asked absently as she counted the few ace bandages they had.

"I think she likes having someone to talk to more than anything. So, do you want to count or record?" Denise asked.

"I'll count," Dayna replied handing the notebook to Denise. They worked together for the next few hours recording inventory and taking stock of the surgical equipment. The previous doctor had been a surgeon so he had above normal instruments and assorted machines like a heart monitor and an EKG. Dayna checked the machines to make sure they were in working order and luckily all was good. When they eventually break down, they will be out of vital pieces of equipment.

Morning turned to afternoon and after a short lunch break they decided to tackle the drug cabinet. Dayna was about to put the key into the lock, when they heard a screeching of tires out front. They both looked at each other in surprise as cars weren't typically allowed this far inside Alexandria, only Daryl's bike came inside. Instantly they knew something was seriously wrong.

Dayna ran for the door with Denise on her heels and skidded to a stop as they met Sheri as she was coming inside to get help. Dayna pushed past Sheri as she stopped to tell Denise what was going on. Dayna knew this was the group from the supply run that was due back yesterday. Her worried eyes quickly took in that Heath and Martin were opening the back of the van. That left Daryl and Rosita in the back…one of them must be injured.

The men flung the back doors to the van open and Dayna's heart stopped for a brief second. Rosita was leaning over an unconscious Daryl. She was pressing a bloody cloth against his left side. Daryl was covered in blood, as was the dirty floor of the van. It looked positively awful.

Dayna's eyes locked with Rosita's for a moment before she could ask the question no one ever wanted to ask. "Did he get bit?"

"No," Rosita told her. "He was shot...yesterday."

Dayna jumped inside the van and moved the cloth away to see what the damage was. The blood on his clothes was fresh on top of dried. The wound was still bleeding steadily. "Yesterday?" Dayna asked shocked. "Why didn't you comeback right way? He's lost so much blood, Rosita. What the hell happened?" Dayna was furious! Why didn't they bring him back right away? That delay could be the difference between him living or not.

She didn't wait for Rosita to answer her. "Heath, get him inside. Now!" she demanded as she jumped out of the back of the van. Dayna ran over to Denise, "Its Daryl he's been shot in the left upper quadrant. We need the surgical room for him."

Denise immediately lost all of the color in her face as Dayna dragged her inside the infirmary. When they got inside Dayna turned to face Denise, "You cannot panic, Denise. Daryl needs us." She took Denise's hands in hers and looked her right in the eyes, "Between you and me we can do this. Daryl is in bad shape and we're all he's got. I'm not going to lose him. Got that Denise, I'm not going to lose him! Can you pull it together?"

"Y…yes," Denise said with more conviction that she felt. Sure she had done the whole medical school thing, residency and even a surgical rotation, but her panic attacks made it impossible to practice medicine. That's why she went into Psychology and now she was thrust back into the world of regular medicine. It scared her to death.

"Good, don't forget I've got your back. We're doing this together," Dayna flashed her a halfhearted smile and stood back as the men brought Daryl in. "Put him in here," she directed them to the room that was used for seriously ill patients. It held the surgical equipment they had and they tried to keep it as sterile as they could with what little they had. In fact it was the kitchen, but it worked well. They had a sink to wash up in, a stove to boil surgical instruments and plenty of storage for supplies. There was a treatment gurney in the middle of the room and a bed off to the side.

Dayna gave a silent prayer of thanks that she had completely cleaned this room just the other day and knew it was ready. She just didn't expect Daryl to be the first one that used it. Dayna lightly shook her head needing to clear it of everything except her patient. Right now Daryl was solely a patient and she couldn't afford to let anything get in the way of her judgement.

"Wait a sec," she called out as Martin and Heath were about to lay Daryl completely down on gurney. "I want to get his vest off. I'm going to have to cut his clothing off and he will kill me if I ruin it." With efficient hands of having undressed many unconscious people Dayna had the vest off in seconds with the help of the guys. Dayna opened a cabinet and brought out a box of sterile 4x4's and handed them to Rosita. She took a deep breath before the orders started flying out of her mouth. "Here's what we are going to do, I'll take his vitals so we know where he stands, Denise figure out what you think we need to possibly do surgically. Rosita get over here and keep pressure on the wound with the sterile pads I just gave you. Guys you need to hang out in the other room, don't let anyone else in as too many people mean too many germs. Sheri…go get Rick now! He needs to be here."

Dayna didn't wait to see if anyone questioned her as she started to access Daryl right away. His breathing was slow and irregular. Quickly she placed the blood pressure cuff around his arm and took his pressure. It was 90 over 55. That was very low. His pulse was slow and thready. All of these indicated that Daryl was seriously injured and Dayna couldn't afford to be sad or angry, she had to do what she did best to save his life.

His skin was very pale showing the great loss of blood that had happened. There was a good chance he had internal bleeding and Denise was going to have to fix it. She had no choice, because if she didn't Daryl would certainly die. Dayna conveyed his vitals to Denise in the concise confident way her nursing background gave her. The panic look on Denise's face was more than Dayna could handle.

"Denise, pull it together! I need you! Daryl needs you!" Dayna yelled at Denise and instantly saw that was the wrong thing to do. Denise took a step back from the bed and looked about ready to bolt from the room. " _Damn it_!" Dayna thought. " _This is not going to happen now. I need her too much_."

Dayna walked over the panicking Denise and once again took her hands in hers. "Okay, take a deep breath. I'm sorry I yelled, but…Daryl is very important to me. I need your help Denise, I can't do this alone. Understand that?"

Denise shook her head yes.

"Good. You went to medical school, you're a doctor, so I have the utmost confidence in you. I've worked OR and ER…got that? Together we can save him, but I need you to pull it together. You can do that, right?" Dayna wanted to scream, but she kept her composure and tried to bring Denise off the proverbial ledge of panic that she was on.

It was maybe only a second or two, but it felt like hours as Dayna waited for a response from Denise. It was like a switch had been flipped as Dayna saw the panic leave Denise's face and a more confident Denise emerge. "I got this," Denise told Dayna. 'We need to check the wound first."

" _Thank you God_ ," Dayna whispered and she quickly moved to the right side of the bed. Rosita moved out of the way do Denise could examine Daryl. Dayna handed gloves to Denise that they both put on.

The bloody gauze pads were moved away and Denise took in the slow but steady seeping of blood from the wound. "We need to roll him, I need to see if there's an exit wound," she said.

"Rosita, can you help me on this side?" Dayna asked. Whether she liked it or not, Rosita had just become their assistant. "You okay helping?"

"I'm fine. Just keep telling me what to do, I'll do it," Rosita replied. While her position in the group was at odds because of Abraham, but Daryl had always treated her fairly. If she could help him at all, she would.

Once Rosita took position on the right side of the gurney, Dayna ran over to the left to help Denise turn Daryl on his right side. With a combined effort the three of them were able to turn Daryl. The first thing Dayna noticed was the absence of an exit wound. That meant he bullet was still inside of him. Then her eyes quickly took in the tattoos and the scars. Her face never changed expressions, but she was incredibly shocked. She had seen scars like these before on abused patients in the ER. A bet, whip, or rope could have left any of the numerous long marks on his back. At some point in his life Daryl was seriously abused. Her heart went out to him, as no one should ever have to suffer cruelty like that.

They laid Daryl back down onto the gurney. "He needs fluids and blood, especially since I'm going to have to go in after the bullet and see what damage was done. Dayna get an IV going with Ringer's and do we have any O negative blood left?" Denise asked.

"Yes, three bags."

"It'll have to do. He'll need two IV's one for the ringers to rehydrate him and the other for the blood transfusion. Get them going and I'll be back in a few minutes. I want to refresh myself on the anatomy in there before we open him up. Rosita get pressure back on that wound. He'll need the heart monitor on him too. I'll be back." Denise ran out of the room to her office stripping off the bloody gloves and throwing them in a waste basket.

Dayna immediately started retrieving what she needed for the IV's. She was inserting the catheter for the Ringers when she heard a door slam and loud voices.

"What the hell happened?" she heard coming from the doorway, not looking away from the needle she was inserting into Daryl's vein.

Rosita instantly spoke up. "Heath and Martin can tell you what happened on the run, Rick. Let Dayna finish with the IV's and she can tell you what's going to happen here."

Rick stood impatiently on the doorway watching Dayna work on his best friend and brother. Rick's worried eyes took in the pale unconscious Daryl lying on the gurney. He saw the blood that was soaking the pads that Rosita had pressed to side. He also knew that they gave blood only in the most critical of injuries, as they didn't have much left. Daryl could die, he knew that without anyone even having to tell him, but could they save him? Was Denise up to the challenge that Daryl presented?

Dayna finished with the IV's and started to set up the heart monitor. Now she could talk and work. "What we know is that he's lost a lot of blood and the bullet is still inside. I suspect he also has internal bleeding. We need to operate to remove the bullet and see what's still causing him to lose blood." With deft hand she had the monitor's electrodes attached to Daryl to make monitoring his vitals easier during the surgery.

"Can you and Denise do this?" Rick asked with his intense blue eyes locking onto hers.

"We can…we will. Denise will be back in a minute and we will start. I need everyone to stay out of this room to keep it as sterile as we can. I don't want us to save his life only to lose it an infection, which still may happen but we're going to do the best we can for him, Rick." Good thing Dayna had plenty of practice sounding calm in front of families, as she was a nervous wreck inside.

"Will he die?" asked Rick dreading what Dayna may say. His hands were curled into tight fists as he waited her response.

Dayna took a deep breath before she answered Rick. "He may, he's critically injured, but between Denise and myself we will do whatever we can not to allow that to happen. These are not ideal conditions to operate under, but it is all we have. Daryl is strong and stubborn, so we have that on our side. Just pray for the best."

Just as Dayna finished telling Rick the truth behind what may happen, Denise reentered the room. "Rick you need to leave, we ready to start the surgery. Don't let anyone in that door unless we ask for them. Okay?" Denise was in full take charge doctor mode, Dayna was impressed.

Rick closed the door quietly behind him. He had lost faith in God a long time ago, as he couldn't imagine why any God would allow this chaos to happen. The dead killing the living and the living killing the living. It was an unsafe insane world they all lived in now. Rick figured he'd give God one more try and ask for help keeping Daryl alive. Next to his kids, Daryl was the most important person to him. A small smile came to the corner of his mouth as he remembered the first time they met. They both nearly killed each other, but that was a long time ago and things had certainly changed. He closed his eyes and sent a silent plea up to the heavens to save his best friend. It wasn't Daryl's time to die yet…he hoped.


	23. Chapter 23

It was done. Denise was able to remove the bullet during surgery that felt like hours but really wasn't all that long considering what needed to be done. The steady bleeding had come from his spleen which had been nicked by the bullet. There was no way to repair it, so the Denise did the next best thing and removed it. Daryl could easily live without it.

As Dayna washed her hands at the sink she thought she and Denise made a pretty good team. She only had to pull Denise off the panic edge just one more time when they realized the spleen had to go or Daryl would die from blood loss. Once Denise was back on track it really went much better than Dayna anticipated. Plus Rosita's help was invaluable. She was calm and collected under the pressure of participating in a surgery and did anything that was asked of her. Dayna dried her hands as she looked over at Daryl. He was still unconscious, but she hoped he would awake soon. She planned on spending the night in the infirmary keeping an eye on him. Dayna actually was looking forward to the shift as she could spend the time with him even though he didn't know she was there. First, however she needed to check in with Rick.

Dayna opened the door to the outer room and was surprised to see the number of people jammed in there. Rick and Daryl's entire group was there, plus others all waiting on word of Daryl. It touched her that he was so loved, but she wondered if he realized it.

"How is he?" Rick blurted out when he saw Dayna. All eyes turned to her immediately. The tension in the room was skyrocketed.

"He made it through the surgery," she said with a tired smile. "He still needs to regain consciousness, but it's too soon to expect that. So as long as he wakes up okay and doesn't get an infection, he'll live to shoot another crossbow." A huge sigh of relief filled the room and everyone started to talk as once.

Rick drew Dayna into an unexpected hug. "Thank you for saving him," he whispered in her ear.

Dayna pulled back after a moment and looked up at Rick. "It wasn't just me, Rick. Denise performed the surgery and Rosita was a big help too. It was definitely a team effort."

"Yeah, but you are the backbone behind the team. I know Denise wouldn't have been able to do this on her own. Thanks Dayna," he said softly as his words were meant for her ears only.

Dayna was surprised on Rick's assessment of her. He was right, but she never realized that he was that aware of what went on in the infirmary. "I'd do my best for anyone… but this was Daryl. I couldn't let him die, Rick. No matter what, that wasn't an option." Tears appeared in the corner of her eyes that she quickly wiped away.

"I know you would do your best to save him. I can't say that I know or understand what's going on between you two, but I'm pretty sure something happened at some point. " Rick then looked her directly in the eye. "If Daryl doesn't scoop you up, then he's not as smart as I though he was."

Dayna was touched by his words. "Thank you," she said with a big smile. "I better go back and check on our stubborn patient." Dayna turned to leave and before she could return to the surgical room, Carol grabbed her.

"He's going to make it, right?"

"I think so, I really do. He needs to wake up first and then it's just making sure that he doesn't get an infection. We work clean, but it's not sterile in there. Carol, I won't leave his side. I promise you that," Dayna told her. Carol's relationship with Daryl went all the way back to the beginning when they all formed this group...this family. Dayna knew that they were close, so Carol would be devastated if anything happen to him. "I'm going to go in now and check his vitals and sit with him. I don't plan on leaving him until he can growl at me like he normally does. Okay? "

Carol laughed at Dayna, as that was so Daryl. His short concise way of speaking with his gravelly voice often came out as a growl. "I'll check back with you later, okay?"

"No problem, " Dayna said with a smile and left before anyone else could intercept her. Denise was finishing up gathering the surgical tools that they used. "I'll get those instruments, Denise," Dayna told her. "I'll wash and boil them tonight while I'm here. It'll give me something to do."

"Okay. Are you sure you don't want me to relieve you during the night? I can."

"Honestly, I would either go home and worry all night or just end up staying here anyway. I can't leave him, until I know he's going to be okay. I just can't. I can make a pallet next to the bed if I get too tired," Dayna explained to Denise. There was no way she was going to leave him. No way.

"I'll check back later tonight to see if Daryl's woken up yet. He should by then, but he's also lost a lot of blood that his body needs to make up for. The three units we used helped, but they weren't enough. I'm not going anywhere for a bit though, I'll be around, so call if you need me, okay?" Denise finished washing her hands before taking a final look at her unconscious patient and leaving.

Dayna walked over to where Daryl was lying on the bed they kept in the room. His breathing was better than when he was brought in as it wasn't as shallow. She did a vitals check and while they still weren't normal, they were much better than before the surgery. She brushed his long bangs aside and admired his handsome face. He was certainly a unique man.

His arms, hands and face were still covered with blood and grime, so she decided he needed to be cleaned up. It didn't take her long to get a basin set up with warm soapy water to wash him up with. When she was finished, Dayna took a good look at Daryl and thought he still looked too pale. His body had small scars and cuts and bruises scattered over it. Her heart went out to him thinking of the pain he suffered with the gunshot.

Since there was nothing left to do but wait for him to wake up, Dayna used the sink to wash the surgical instruments that was used before placing them in a pot of boiling water to sterilize them. After that, all she had to do was to keep an eye on Daryl and take his vitals every few hours. The heart monitor kept her apprised of most of the information she recorded but not all.

She sat in a chair next to his bed and watched the slow and steady rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. Even if he barely talked to her anymore, having him alive meant the world to her. She hoped deep down that somehow they could fix whatever went wrong. He'd have to tell he first as she was still at a loss on what had changed for him.

It was a couple hours and a lot of deep thinking later, the door to the room opened. Dayna looked up and saw Rosita coming in with a tray. "I brought you dinner. You need to eat," she said.

"Thanks," Dayna said with a small smile. "I'm not really hungry, but I know I need the fuel. Thanks Rosita. Thanks for the dinner and thanks for all the help you've been. You saved his life as much as we did. I'll never forget that." Dayna wasn't sure that Rosita understood her attachment to Daryl, but she would always be in her debt. "Do you have time to sit for a bit?"

"Sure. I don't have anything else to do." Dayna could see a sadness in Rosita. Guaranteed she didn't know her prior to coming to Alexandria, but she knew from Sasha that Rosita didn't take her breakup with Abraham well. Dayna could certainly relate to that. Daryl didn't want her either.

Rosita pulled a chair up to sit near the bed with Dayna. "How's he doing?"

"Status quo. But's that's be expected right now. I'm anxious for him to wake up, but I have no idea when that will be. He was unconscious when he came in, he lost all that blood and the effects of the drugs Denise gave him for the surgery all combine to a wait and see scenario. So… I'm just here waiting." It was definitely a waiting game Dayna thought to herself. Waiting for him to wake up, waiting for him to talk to her and waiting to find out why he had given up on them. "You did great today, "Dayna told Rosita. "I never did learn how this happened? What went wrong, Rosita?"

"It was three assholes that surprised us when we were loading up the van. They wanted our supplies, but they didn't count on the fact that we weren't going to give them up and that Daryl is a force to be reckoned with. We shot two of them and Daryl was wresting with the last one when the gun went off. It caught him in the side." Rosita paused for a moment looking over at Daryl for continuing.

Dayna wondered if there was anything between them and prayed there wasn't.

"Heath took out the last guy, with a direct shot to the head…before I could."

"Then why did it take so long to get back here?" Dayna asked. That delay could have meant the difference between Daryl surviving or not.

"Because the gunshots attracted a lot of walkers," Rosita explained. "We dragged Daryl back into the store, but the guys were dead right by the van and the walkers finished off the bodies, but that took a while. We couldn't leave until the next day. Daryl was conscious for most of the time, but just before we left he passed out. I just couldn't get the blood to stop, so all I could do was apply pressure to it." Rosita looked at Dayna and said sadly, "I wish I could have done more."

Dayna put her hand on Rosita's arm, "You did enough. You got him back here alive and that was the most important thing.

"Can I ask you something…personal?" Rosita said quietly.

"Sure, what you got?" Dayna said as she finally started eating her dinner.

"Is there something between you and Daryl?" she asked.

Dayna gave a little laugh. "I don't know and isn't that a stupid answer. When I first met him he scared me. He's so intense…he was so...so Daryl. But I was still attracted to him and I thought he was to me. He even kissed me right before we got inside of Alexandria, but after that nothing. Then we did that medical supply run together and it was about to move past the kissing stage and we had to make a run for it. When we got back, he made himself scarce and I've been confused ever since. I think he changed his mind about us without even giving it a chance. I don't know what to do, so I just do nothing. This is the closest I've been to him weeks and of course he has to be unconscious." They both laughed.

"Seems a lot of men are changing their minds lately," Rosita said.

"Seems a lot of men are stupid lately," Dayna replied with a hint of anger in her voice. "I mean I don't know you that well, but you seem like someone I would like to be friends with, plus you're hot so why would Abraham let you go?"

Rosita looked at Dayna suspiciously. "Aren't you friends with Sasha?"

"I am, but that doesn't make me blind. She's a great person and so are you. In fact, I think both of you are too good for him. He and his big mouth have irked me since the start. I'm not a fan of his by any means. I am sorry that they hurt you." Dayna leaned over and gave Rosita a hug. "Maybe we could start a club or support group for women like us?"

Rosita burst out laughing. "I like that!"

"Like what?" came a voice from behind them.

"Oh, hey Rick," Dayna said turning at his voice. "Just us girls being silly, that's all."

"Sure," he said with a smirk. "How's Daryl doing? I wanted to check back and see if he woke up yet."

"No he hasn't. His vitals are constantly improving, so that's a good sign. It's just a waiting game for now," Dayna told him.

"Okay. I brought a radio with me for you. If you need anything during the night, just call me and I'll be right over," Rick said handing her the black radio.

"That's a great idea. Thanks Rick." Having the radio was a big comfort for Dayna. Since they didn't have phones, if she needed help during the night she had no way to get in touch with anyone other than leave Daryl. This took a big weight off her shoulders.

Rosita decided to leave with Rick and they both promised to be back in the morning. Hopefully, Daryl would be awake by then. The door closed softly behind them and Dayna was once again left with watching over Daryl. The chair they had in the room was left over from a living room set, so it was soft and comfortable. She brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them with her chin resting on top. This was her favorite thinking position. She had all night to think, dream and wonder where everything was going. Dayna simply stared at Daryl's handsome face for hours as he slept and the night wore on.

* * *

THANK you to those that are leaving reviews. They are wonderful and i very much appreciate them. There is a glitch with reviews abs while i see them in my email, and the number of reviews increases, they cant be seen. Please continue to send them as it lets me know, whether or not you are enjoying Restless.

A huge thank you to everyone from all over the world that is reading my story about Daryl and Dayna. Enjoy this new chapter. It puts us halfway through with he story.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Minutes turned to hours and the hours slowly passed as Dayna kept watch over Daryl. Every two hours she recorded his vital signs in the make-shift chart they had. She curled her legs under her and laid her head back. Even though the light in the room was dim, Dayna closed her tired eyes. It had been a very long day. Maybe she could catch a few minutes of sleep to take the edge off her fatigue. She settled into the chair, but had yet to doze off, when Daryl moaned softly.

Dayna's eyes instantly popped open and she leaned forward to look at Daryl. His fingers moved a little as his eyes slowly started to open. Dayna's heart jumped into her chest and she took his hand in hers. She watched as he blinked a few times as he became fully conscious. His sleepy blue eyes met hers and Dayna saw him recognize her. He was back. A huge smile spread across her face. "Hey there," she said softly not letting go of his hand. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I got hit by a fucking truck," he said hoarsely. "What the hell happened?"

"Do you remember getting shot?" Dayna asked him.

Daryl hesitated a bit at first. "Yeah… now I do. Then we couldn't leave cause of the walkers. I don't remember much anything else."

"That's cause you passed out and didn't wake up until now. We had to remove the bullet and your spleen as it got nicked and wouldn't stop bleeding, that's why you lost consciousness from the blood loss," she told him.

"You did surgery on me?" he asked surprised.

"Well Denise did, I just assisted, but yeah you underwent surgery. Being shot and the blood loss, is why you feel like a truck hit you. Can you move your feet for me?" Dayna turned and saw the sheet move at the end of the bed. "Good. I think you are on your road to recovery. Everyone's been so worried about you."

"Yeah, right," he mumbled.

"Daryl…look at me." Dayna waited until his eyes met hers. "The outer room was packed with people. Rick, Carl, Glenn, Maggie, Carol, Sasha, Abraham, Eugene, Tara, Rosita, Heath, Aaron and a bunch of others from here. It was standing room only with everyone concerned about you. You could have died, Daryl. They were all here pulling for you." Did he not know how people felt about him? He was so important to everyone in this community.

Dayna saw his eyes soften when he realized that she spoke the truth. "Can I get a drink of water?" he asked quietly. The fact that so many people were worried about him was overwhelming.

"Sure," Dayna said getting up and releasing his hand. She went over to the sink and poured him half a cup. "Drink slowly," she warned him handing him the cup.

He had raised himself up partway leaning on his left elbow. He drank it down and lowered himself back down to the bed exhausted.

"Go back to sleep. That's the best way to heal is to let yourself get plenty of rest."

"Will you be here?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm not going anywhere," She told him with a gentle smile.

"Thank you," he mumbled as he immediately fell back to sleep.

Dayna watched the steady rise and fall of his chest knowing he was in a deep sleep. She slumped back in the chair letting out a deep breath. He was okay. Thank God he was okay. As long as they could keep any infection from happening he was going to be just fine! After all the stress from yesterday this was such a relief. Dayna closed her eyes and slipped into a light exhausted sleep.

The sun was almost all the way up when Dayna woke up with a start. She quickly looked over at Daryl who was still sleeping soundly. The monitor indicated his vitals were strong. When he woke up she would change the dressing. She turned at the sound of the door opening slowly and saw Carol poke her head in. Dayna waved her over and spoke in a whisper. "He woke up."

Carol's eyes got huge at Dayna's words. She had noticed that Daryl was still asleep, so she didn't think he had come to yet and was extremely worried. Tears started down Carol's cheeks. "He's okay? He talked to you?"

"Yes, he did. He fell back asleep a few hours ago, but he woke up around 4:30 or so and we talked for a bit. I let him know what happened, as he didn't remember too much. Now we just have to keep an eye out for infection, but other than that he should be as good as new in a couple weeks." Dayna could see the huge relief come over Carol. The tears were a testament to how much she cared about him. "You know he was surprised on how many people waited to see how he made it through the surgery. I honestly don't think he knows how important he is to so many people."

Carol wiped the tears away and a more determined look took over. "He underestimates himself. He always has and that constantly pisses me off. It comes from his idiot brother and family. They never taught him to have any self-worth or treated him like he meant anything at all. Anyway, I'm so happy he's doing better," Carol added quickly realizing she may have said too much. "I'll bring you both breakfast in a bit, okay?"

"Sounds good Carol, but nothing heavy for Daryl. Can you pass the word on how he's doing? I don't think he should get a lot of visitors until I'm sure he won't catch an infection." Carol agreed to let everyone know that he was out of the woods and to hang back a bit. She gave Dayna a hug and quietly left the room.

Carol had given Dayna a little insight into what made Daryl…Daryl. She already knew a little about his brother, but she couldn't imagine parents who didn't support their kids and made them feel bad about themselves. She had two of the best parents a kid could have. They showed her love and respect no matter what. She could count on them or her sister to always support her, give advice or to help her out when she needed it, even though that had been rare. That's what parents do, right?

Memories of her family and growing up played through her mind like a non-stop silent movie. Dayna wasn't sad by it, she wanted to remember the good times with them and the love they shared. Her memories were all she had left of them.

"Why you smilin'? " came from the bed.

"Hey you're awake," Dayna said seeing Daryl looking at her. "How are you feeling?"

"Hungry and my side hurts, other than that I'm fucking great," he answered a bit on the grouchy side.

Dayna laughed at him. "I love cranky patients. You make my job so much fun. So this is what we're gonna do. I need to take your temperature now that you re awake. I've got some pains meds that should help and I have to change the bandage. How's that for a plan?"

Dayna was walking over to the cabinet to the thermometer. "Fine but where does food come in?" Daryl asked.

"Carol was by earlier to check on you. She should be back soon with food for us. Open your mouth so I can check your temperature." Dayna stood next to the bed with the thermometer ready. Daryl gave her a look that had scared off many people, but she just stood there grinning at him. He didn't intimidate her in the least. "Just open your mouth Daryl. Don't forget I control the pain meds and I'm sure you want those, right?"

"Is this how you treat your patients?" he grumbled.

"Open!" she said firmly and slid the thermometer in when he finally cooperated. "Only the difficult ones get my special bedside manner. So either shape up or shut up."

Daryl's eyes narrowed in frustration, but he couldn't say anything with the thermometer in his mouth. The few minutes it took to take his temperature gave him time to think. Yeah he was pissed off that he gotten shot, his side hurt like a sumbitch and he didn't have enough energy to get out of the damned bed, but he was starting to take it out on Dayna and it wasn't her fault. He had already figured out that he was alive because of her. No matter that the Denise chick was the doctor, she was scared of her own fuckin' shadow half the time, so it had to have been Dayna that saved him. He had no doubt about that. Just another thing that indebted him to her and he hated owing anyone, but he was glad that she was here with him. Even though he had spent the last few weeks trying to avoid her, she was always on his mind. Everywhere he turned she was there or someone was talking about her. She had fit into this crazy family of his easier than anyone else ever had.

The thermometer was removed from his mouth and he saw a small frown on Dayna's face as she looked at it. "What wrong?" Daryl asked.

"Nothing…I hope. Your temp is 100.2 F. That's a low grade fever. After any surgery we have to be careful about infection setting in. I'll let Denise know as we may want to start you on antibiotics to be sure, but it's her call," Dayna told him. He should have a normal temperature, the low grade fever worried her, but she didn't want to let him know that. She was surprised that he picked something was up when she read the thermometer. She would have to be more careful not to let her emotions show.

"What's your call?" he asked.

"It's not my call, it's the doctor's call," she started to reply before he interrupted her.

"I asked you what your call would be," he demanded his voice low and deep.

"Antibiotics, but…"

"Then that's what I want."

Dayna knew she had to run this past Denise first. She was only a nurse. "I can give you something to combat the fever. When Denise comes in I'll talk to her about antibiotics. I've got to follow protocol, Daryl, but I'll stay on it." Dayna unlocked the drug cabinet and got him two acetaminophen tablets to take. "Here take these," she said dropping the pills into his hand. He took them with a glass of water that she also provided. "Now I need to change the bandage."

Daryl looked at Dayna and then raised the sheet to look underneath. He quickly dropped it back down. "I ain't got nothin' on. How'd that happen?" Daryl was a very private guy and he was surprised and startled to see he was naked under the sheets.

Dayna smiled at him. He was embarrassed. She found that extremely endearing. "I did, I'm a nurse remember and Rosita helped..."

"Fuck Dayna! You and Rosita saw my…my" but Dayna interrupted him before he could finish.

"No Daryl we didn't see anything we shouldn't have seen. You were covered the whole time. I am a professional you know." The look of relief in his face was almost comical. Dayna could understand where he was coming from, she wasn't just a nurse, nor was Rosita and she could easily see why he would be embarrassed.

"Okay then," he grumbled. "Let's get this dressing changed. I wanna see how you two carved me up."

Dayna rolled her eyes as she walked over the counter to washer hands. She then retrieved the tray that held everything she needed for a dressing change. She placed it on the bedside table and turned back to her grumpy patient. She rolled the sheet down to uncover the bandage, being careful not to expose any more of Daryl than was needed. Dayna put on gloves to protect herself and Daryl from unwanted bacteria. Just as she was peeling off the tape that held the bandage on, Denise walked through the door.

"Great timing," Dayna told her as she kept her attention on the bandage.

"I see your awake, Daryl. That's great. How are you feeling?" Denise asked pulling the stethoscope from around her neck off so she could listen to his heart and lungs.

"I'm hungry and I want antibiotics," he said firmly.

"The hungry I get, but why antibiotics?" Denise looked at Dayna for the answer.

"Low grade fever of 100.2. I'm about to see what's going on under the dressing. I told him we'd have to wait for you for deciding on the antibiotics. This may help us decide." Dayna finished pulling off the rest of the tape. Slowly she peeled off the bandage as it was stuck to the wound. Daryl inhaled sharply as the bandage was pulled free.

Dayna and Denise both leaned in to get a closer look. Denise had done a nice job of stitching him up. The incision was a bit jagged, but the suture line was neat and even. They both noticed a redness starting along the edges of the incision. That was an early sign of infection. Dayna kept her expression neutral, while inside her she was screaming, " _Shit! Shit! Shit_!"

Denise walked over the drug cabinet that was still open and searched until she found what she was looking for. She brought the bottle over to Daryl and handed him a capsule.

"What's this?" he asked.

"A broad spectrum antibiotic. You'll get one every six hours," she told him. Denise looked around for water and handed him a half full glass that was on the table by him. Daryl quickly downed the pill and handed her back the empty glass.

"I got an infection?" he asked.

"Yes," answered Denise. "But we caught it early and the antibiotics should help keep it under control. Dayna, did you give him anything for the fever?"

"Eight hundred milligrams of Acetaminophen right before you came in. I haven't had time to chart it yet." Dayna was washing the skin around the wound with warm mild soapy water. The cleaner she could keep it, the better it would be to help combat the infection. The bandage was replaced and Dayna was helping Daryl get comfortable in the bed when Carol walked into the room with breakfast. Her eyes lit up seeing that Daryl was awake.

Dayna let them visit for a while, so she took her breakfast to the outer room. Denise joined her shortly after. "We need to keep an eye on him today and monitor his temperature and meds. Do you think Rosita can come over and help out?" Denise asked.

"Maybe, but I can do it," Dayna said in between mouthfuls.

"No. You were here all day yesterday and last night, you need to get some sleep. If Rosita can keep an eye on him for a while during the day, then you can come back later. He'll need to be monitored during the night again." Denise could see she was about to argue. "This is not up for debate, Dayna. You need sleep and will not be any help to me or Daryl if you are exhausted. So finish eating and see if Rosita can cover in case I get patients." Denise didn't like to pull rank on Dayna, but she couldn't have her passing out from exhaustion either. Daryl needed both of them strong.

Dayna knew Denise was right, but she hated leaving him. "Okay," she said begrudgingly, "But his next temp should be taken in two hours."

"I know," Denise smiled at her. "Now go."

"I need to let him know I'm going for a bit, first," Dayna told Denise who nodded her agreement. Dayna walked back into Daryl's room where he and Carol were talking. They both turned to her as she approached the bed. "Listen, I'm going to leave for a bit to get some sleep. I'm going to check with Rosita to see if she can hang out here for a while." Dayna saw Daryl's eye narrow and his face get taut.

"I don't need a babysitter," he growled.

"No, you don't," she agreed, "But your fever does. That has to be monitored closely and Denise may get stuck with patients coming in to see her, so someone has to monitor it and your vital signs. You had major surgery yesterday after being shot. This is not a simple sick day, Daryl."

Daryl hated being treated as an invalid, even though technically he was. He had always only relied on himself for everything. That had changed when he joined this group on their quest to survive. Strangers became trusted friends and friends turned into family. Only with these people, did he start to learn that he didn't have to do everything for himself or on his own. He had others he could count on, but that still hard to accept at times. This was one of those times.

"I can stay with him for a little bit," Carol volunteered. "Rosita can come over later."

"Is that okay with you?" Dayna asked Daryl.

"Yeah, I guess," he mumbled.

"Good. Then I'm outta here to get some sleep, I'll be back this afternoon." Dayna looked directly at Daryl. "Don't give them any trouble, you got that?" Dayna flashed a tired smile at Carol and mouthed, "Good luck."

On the way out the door she heard Daryl call out, "Ain't makin' any promises!" She just shook her head and laughed. He was a pain in the ass, but for some reason she just couldn't fathom, she loved him.

Finally back in her room, she settled onto her bed curling on her side. Just before sleep overtook her, she prayed that this time with Daryl would pull them closer together. She needed him in her life one way or another.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

Carol watched Dayna leave the room and heard the click of the door latch behind her. She turned and crossed her arms across her chest and glared at Daryl.

"What?" he growled at her. Daryl had a feeling he wasn't going to like what Carol had to say by the look on her face.

"What is wrong with you?" she snapped her eyes full of fire.

"Beside me being shot, I have no fuckin' idea what you are talking about," he retorted. "But I can tell you are about to tell me, so what's wrong with me that we don't already know?" Daryl fiddled with the sheet covering him. He was a captive audience and Carol knew that. Whatever she had on her mind, he wanted her to just spit it out and get it over with.

"Why are you avoiding her like the plague? I never thought you were one to play games with people's feelings, but you've proved me wrong." Carol sat back and watched Daryl absorb her words. She could tell he didn't expect that. She saw a flash of surprise cross his scruffy face quickly to be replaced by anger. "Go ahead deny it, Daryl. I know you want to, but the truth is you let her fall for you and then you stomped on it. You disappoint me Daryl."

Carol had taken a big risk confronting Daryl this way. She certainly didn't want to risk their friendship, but Daryl needed Dayna. He was just too stubborn to realize it. She also did not know the full story behind them. Dayna had never shared it with her, but Carol was good at putting puzzles together. She knew Dayna and Daryl had come back from that supply run with serious tension between them. Daryl had taken off immediately after they got back and as much as Dayna tried to hide it, she was miserable. Before that, she had watched Daryl as his eyes never left Dayna when she was around and Dayna did the same thing. They tried to hide it from each other and everyone, but Carol noticed everything.

" _She's too damn smart for her own good_ ," Daryl thought to himself, " _but she had no right to be up my ass in my business._ " His life was his and no one else needed to get involved in it. He took a deep breath to calm his anger before he spoke. "Listen, first there's nothing between me and Dayna. If she feels somethin' for me that's her problem. I'm not about to get involved with someone like her. And how is any of this any of your business? Stay out of it, Carol. I mean it."

Daryl lay back into the bed exhausted. His little tirade took more out of him that he expected. Damn, he hated being this weak. He closed his eyes hoping Carol would just leave. He knew he had been wrong to treat Dayna the way he did, but he didn't know what else to do. Ignoring her and hurting her was the easy way out for him. What did he know about relationships anyway? He was a Dixon and they always screwed them up. Dayna didn't deserve someone like him, no one did.

"Someone like her? She's a great person, who is kind and thoughtful and people love her. What is so wrong about that?" Carol insisted. She wasn't going to drop this…yet.

"That's the whole problem Carol! She's too good! Once she realized what a piece of shit I am, she'd drop me as fast as she could. I'm…I'm not sure I could handle that, so it's better not to even try!" There he said it, well make that shouted it.

"What's going on in here?" Denise demanded as she burst into the room. "Daryl should be resting, not yelling. Carol, I think it's time to go. I need to check him anyway."

"Okay. I'm sorry I got you upset," Carol told Daryl. He could tell her apology didn't quite reach her eyes. She leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek and whispered, "You are the best man I have ever known. Someday I hope you realize how incredible you are." Then she walked out of the room leaving Daryl speechless.

Denise had the old fashion thermometer in her hand. Any of the new ones had a run out of battery power so the old fashion way of taking temperatures was their only option. "You okay?" she asked.

'Yeah, I'm fine."

"Make sure you drink plenty of water, but in the meantime open up." Denise placed the thermometer in his mouth. She picked the chart and recorded the vitals than came across the heart monitor. She removed the thermometer rafter three minutes and read the temperature – 101.4. It was still rising and that wasn't good. She wished they had some IV antibiotics available, but they didn't.

"Not good?" Daryl asked.

"It's still going up and I don't like that." Denise thought for a moment before continuing. "I'm going to give you more meds to work on the fever and infection now. We need to get a handle on this." She walked over to the drug cabinet and took out the necessary meds and gave them to Daryl. "Your body needs strength to heal and that means you need to rest. Will you try?"

"Yeah," Daryl told her. "I am tired. I'll take a nap. Damn, I haven't done that since before all this fuckin' shit began." Denise turned to leave the room so he could sleep. "Hey…thanks Doc," he called after her.

"You're welcome Daryl, now just get better on us, okay?"

"I'll do my best," he told her just before he closed his eyes and fell fast asleep.

* * *

Dayna woke up with a start. A quick glance to the clock showed it was four thirty in the afternoon. " _Fuck_!" she said jumping out of bed." _I slept too long_." She hadn't intended to be gone from the infirmary for over seven hours. She rushed through a fast shower, tied back her hair and threw on clothes not really caring what they were. She desperately needed to see how Daryl was doing. Call it a sixth sense or something but Dayna had a feeling something was wrong. She pulled on her boots and literally ran out the door.

She in fact ran all the way to the infirmary and arrived gasping. Rick and Carol were talking to Denise when she literally barged in. Their faces said it all. "What happened? I know something is wrong with Daryl." She stopped to catch her breath her hands resting on her knees. No one answered her. "Denise! What's going on!"

"His fever is up."

"How high?" Dayna demanded. "How high, Denise?"

"102.8," she answered.

"Why didn't you get me? I need to be here. He needs me!" Dayna practically shouted.

Rick put his hand on her shoulder, "Take it easy Dayna. I was about to come and get you."

"I don't understand why you would get Rick and Carol here before me. He's needs me…I mean my skills." Dayna knew she was getting out of control, but this was Daryl. He was her whole world whether anyone knew it or not. He saved her life, now she had to save his.

"Dayna, Denise didn't send for us. Carol and I were dropping by to see how he was doing when Denise was about to go get you. We got here no more than five minutes ago. She explained what was going on and I was just about to leave, when you got here." Rick made sure that Dayna was paying attention to him before he continued. "Daryl needs a skilled nurse like you, but he doesn't need you flying off the handle. Can you pull it together?"

Dayna took a deep breath in and closed her eyes as she exhaled. Rick was right, she had to get herself back to the calm efficient nurse she knew she was. "I'm good Rick," she said to him before turning to everyone. "I'm sorry." Denise walked over to Dayna and put her arm around her shoulder. Their heads were bent together discussing a game plan for Daryl.

Rick turned to Carol, "What was that?" he asked confused.

Carol laughed at him. "Rick, that was a woman in love." Men were so clueless sometimes.

"Dayna's in love with …Daryl? Our Daryl?"

"Yes and I think he's in love with her, but he's too stubborn to see it. He rather run from it," she told him.

"Wow," Rick said contemplating this unexpected news. He thought maybe something happened between them on the supply run last month, but they were never together after that so he never gave it another thought. "Let's walk back to the house and you can update me on this little drama. I want to know why you think Daryl's running from this."

If Carol could get Rick on her side, then they both could try to make Daryl see what he was missing. With a big devious smile on her face, Carol took hold of Rick's arm and talked the whole way back to the house and then some. Daryl needed to see that he was worthy of someone loving him, he loving them back and Carol was going to need Rick's help to do that.

* * *

Dayna sat next to Daryl's bed watching him during his restless sleep. The fever had taken over and she and Denise were doing everything in their power to bring it down, unfortunately nothing was working. He was conscious, but uncomfortable when she returned to his bedside to relieve Rosita. This was well beyond her capabilities right now. Until his fever came down, nothing was going to get Dayna to leave his side.

It was now the middle of the night and his fever still raged. The antibiotics weren't working, the acetaminophen wasn't bringing it down and Dayna wracked her brain on what else they could so. She was already giving him sponge baths of water and rubbing alcohol to help keep him comfortable, but she could see very little evidence that it was helping.

Little beads of sweat gathered on his forehead and lip that brought tears to her eyes. His temperature at last check was just over 103 and anything higher was extremely dangerous. He had fallen asleep a few hours ago and she didn't dare wake him up yet. Sleep was the best thing for him right now. Then again she hoped he was just asleep and not unconscious because he didn't wake during the sponge baths she had given him.

Their last resort was going to be to open up the incision again and see what was going on inside of him. That was the very last resort. Denise was napping in another room, as she didn't want to leave Dayna alone tonight with such a seriously ill patient.

"You know since I met you Daryl Dixon, you turned my life upside down," she said with a small smile talking to an oblivious Daryl. "You saved me from certain death from all those walkers. I was so close to giving up when you stopped, that you really saved me twice… once from the walkers and once from myself." This was the first time she admitted that she had been thinking of taking her own life. Living on her own with no food, water or help with the walkers had become too much for her to handle on her own. "I never would have guessed that a dark, brooding biker could change my life so much. I trusted you the minute I got on the back of the motorcycle, that's why I slept so long that night. I knew I was safe for the first time in weeks. Then you threw me into the whirlwind of saving Alexandria. I never knew communities like this could exist now. I am forever grateful for you bringing me here." Dayna picked up his hot sweaty hand and brought it to her cheek. Her tears flowed down running over his hand and hers. After a minute she kissed the back of his hand that was wet and salty from her crying, but she didn't let go.

The words she needed to say came out easy, with him asleep. "I love you Daryl, but I know that you don't love me back. It's something I am working on learning how to deal with that. I just don't want you to feel the need to hide when I am around and I think that's what you are doing and it breaks my heart that you felt the need to do that. These people are your friends first, your family first and I don't want to get in the way of that. I've never told you how I felt, so I'm not sure what you know or have figured out, but don't worry it's my problem to deal with and I will. I just want us to be friends again. That's all I ask of you." Tears continued to stream down her face as her heart broke.

Dayna had never felt this strongly about anyone before. She had thought herself to be in love a time or two before, but it was nothing like this. The funny thing was is that she really knew very little about Daryl, but what she did know affected her intensely. She wiped the tears away with her free hand as a tiny smile emerged. He was so not her usual type. This wasn't the first time she had thought about this. How stupid and narrow-minded was she to discount that anyone that looked like him wouldn't be right for her? She had wasted years trying to fit the men in her life into the box she had created for them. That box had blown up in her face numerous times and still she went back to it. Now she knew going outside of the box was risky, but worth it.

Dayna sat there watching his handsome, but fever-ridden face for a while, never letting go of his hand. "There is one thing I need to complain to you about, Daryl," she finally said with a smile. "I am getting very tired of having to take care of you all the time. I think I have become your own personal nurse. First, it was the dislocated shoulder. I'm still unsure on how a guy like you managed to fall off the ladder. Then we have the gun shot. I could certainly do without another one of those and now it's this fever we can't control. Would you stop trying to test my nursing skills? I mean I'm good, but I don't have all the necessary tools here to get you better. So would ya stop making me work so hard?"

She felt his fingers squeeze hers and she quickly looked down to confirm it. "I got sidetracked," Daryl mumbled much to Dayna surprise.

"Hey there," she said softly happy that he was awake again. "What do you mean you got sidetracked?"

Daryl slowly opened his eyes. They were still dull from the fever. "Comin'… down the ladder…I got sidetracked. Can I have some water?"

Dayna popped out of the chair and got him a fresh glass of water. She helped him lift his head to drink, when he was done he collapsed back on the bed exhausted. "Feel like a fuckin' baby who can't do shit for himself," Daryl complained.

"Let's take your temperature again," Dayna told him as she shook the thermometer down. "But what sidetracked you enough to fall off the ladder?"

Daryl reached up and took the thermometer out of her hand and placed it in his mouth stopping any form of answer on his part. He was saved for a couple of minutes. That should give him time enough to figure out how to get her off that topic.

During the three minutes it took for the temperature reading Dayna recorded his vitals and checked the IV bag hey had hanging. The last thing they wanted was for him to become dehydrated on top of everything else. When it was time to read the thermometry, Dayna said a quick prayer as she pulled it out of his mouth. It read 103. The good news was that it had come down .2 degrees, but it was still too high.

"Well?" Daryl asked softly, his throat dry and scratchy from fever.

"It went down very slightly, but it's still too high. What am I missing?" Dayna walked over to the drug cabinet and stared at the options. The classic antibiotics weren't helping, even doubling the dosage did nothing. They needed either both a stronger drug and one that could be administered intravenously. They had neither, but maybe she could make one of them. Yes she could!

Dayna took eight amoxicillin tablets and put them in the mortar they used for crushing pills for those that didn't like taking them. She used the pestle to grind and grind the pills into dust. Then she took some sterile saline and poured that into the bowl with the crushed pills. They had to dissolve completely or they could kill Daryl by acting like a clot.

"What are you doing?" he said. He could tell that Dayna had an idea and was working towards it. He needed to know what it was.

"Just a sec," she said absently concentrating on the mixture. Finally she turned to him, "I have an idea, but you have to agree to it one hundred percent or I won't do it. Got it? It's all or nothing."

"What is it?"

Dayna walked back to the chair and sat down next to Daryl. "We need both stronger meds and intravenous meds to help you. I don't have stronger, but I am pretty sure I can make the intravenous form from what we have. "She saw him following her so she continued. "I crushed up some of the amoxicillin really, really fine so it was like a powder. I then added sterile saline to dissolve it. The powder has to dissolve completely for it to work and not kill you. If you don't want to try it, we won't, but if you do you have to make sure that you are one hundred percent behind it. Anything less I won't use it."

Daryl thought for a minute. "When we had a sickness going through the prison, that's what Caleb and Herschel did. It helped those that weren't too far gone. We got the meds for it on a run we did to a veterinary school. That's what gave me the idea for the run that we did. It worked then for the most part, why wouldn't it work for me?" He was tired of being sick and not being able to do shit for himself. He was hot, achy and weak. He hated feeling this way.

"If I didn't crush the pills enough or if they don't dissolve one hundred percent it could act like a clot and that could kill you. You'd be putting a hell of a lot of trust in me," she told him honestly. Dayna knew that even if Daryl said yes, she'd have to be confident that she did everything correctly. She was a nurse, not a pharmacist after all.

Daryl looked at her without any expression on his weary face. His eyes narrowed the way they did when he got serious. "Are you confident that it's okay?"

Dayna met his stare before getting up to check the solution she had made. She could feel his eyes on her. She swirled it around looking for anything that hadn't dissolved and saw nothing. She checked it again, then once more. It looked good. Dayna turned back to Daryl, "Yeah, I am."

"Then so am I," he said quietly. "I trust you."

The impact that those three words had on her was staggering. She wasn't going to let him down, this was going to work, she was sure of it. "Thank you," was all that she could manage. Dayna turned back counter top and opened a new syringe and filled it with dissolved mixture. She did some mental calculations for the dosage and used the plunger to remove some until it was the dosage she wanted. Then she walked over to his partially full IV bag. "You ready?"

"I got one question for ya first," he said.

"What's that?"

"You gonna check with the doc first," he asked.

"Nope," was all she said.

"What happened to following protocol?"

"Fuck protocol," she said with a straight face.

"That's my girl!" Daryl said with a tired smile. "I knew you had it in ya."

Dayna returned the smile, as she pressed the plunger of the syringe down and the slightly home brewed medicine found it's way into the IV bag and subsequently into Daryl. Now all they could do is wait and see what happened.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

Daryl had no idea that Dayna was a nervous wreck while she waited to see if the IV worked. The worst part was there was no way she could be completely sure that everything dissolved no matter what she told Daryl. He had fallen back asleep pretty soon after she added the antibiotics to the IV. She watched the steady rise and fall of his chest for the next two hours. It looked so far so good, but she needed to take his temperature again to know if it was making a difference and to do that she needed to wake him up.

She leaned over the bed and shook him gently to wake him up. "Daryl," she called out softly. "Daryl, I need you to wake up."

"Hmm," he mumbled in his sleep. "Go away."

"No, Daryl I need you to wake up, I need to check your temp," Dayna whispered to him. She had a smile on her face at his reluctance to wake up. "C'mon hotstuff, wake your ass up."

"Hotstuff?" he murmured. "Is that how you wake up all your patients?" Daryl slowly opened his eyes to see Dayna standing next to him.

"Just the cute ones that tell me to go away when I try to wake them up," she laughed. "Now open up, I need to check your temp and then you can go back to sleep."

Daryl rolled his eyes at her comment about him being cute. He knew he wasn't cute or good looking. Cute was a puppy, hell he was too rough around the edges for that. He wasn't good looking either, he was more of just a mess most of the time, not caring how he looked or dressed. Without responding to her ridiculous comment, he just opened his mouth for the thermometer. It was a long three minutes until Dayna removed it. She brought it over to a light to make sure that it was an accurate reading. It was 101.4.

"Yes!" she cried out. "It's down almost two full degrees. I'll give you another does in two hours and it looks like you are finally on the way to recovery. The smile on Dayna's face was radiant. Daryl had always known that she was a beautiful woman, but her smile was captivating. It struck Daryl right in his jaded heart. No one had ever done so much for him before. Every day they went outside the gates, their lives were in jeopardy and he looked after others and they him. That was life now, but this was different. Everything she had done for him the last few days saved his life over and over again. He would never be able to repay that.

He did feel better than he had earlier, but he was still tired. "Hey, thanks for everything you did. I doubt I'd be here if it wasn't for you." He reached out and squeezed her hand. That small contact sent a flood of electricity through the two of them. Daryl had never felt anything like that before and it overwhelmed him, yet he didn't break the contact immediately. He finally dropped her hand without saying anything more to Dayna and closed his eyes. Dayna stood there shocked for a moment.

Daryl finally heard Dayna move away from his bedside, but he kept his eyes closed pretending he was asleep. What was it with this woman that touched him so deep inside? Never in his life had this ever happened to him before and he didn't know what to do. He knew he wanted her, wanted her more than he had ever wanted a woman before, but that damn voice in his head kept telling him to stay away. She didn't need a guy like him in her life to fuck it up.

Dayna walked over the sink to wash her hands. It was more to give herself something to do than out of need. What on earth had just happened? She had touched Daryl many times over the months that she knew him, but that unexpected electrical sensation had shot through her when he grabbed her hand had her tingling in places that left her breathless. She never had a guy make her feel that way before and it only made her want him more.

She turned to look at Daryl lying in the bed. She as pretty sure he was asleep again. "Damn it Dixon," she said softly. "Why do you make me feel this way when I know you don't? Why?" Little did Dayna know that Daryl wasn't asleep, he was just lying there with his eyes closed and heard everything that she just said. He wondered why things always had to be so hard for him before he finally drifted off again.

Denise came into the room about an hour later, rubbing her eyes as it was still the middle of the night. "How's he doing? Any better?" she asked.

"Yes, the fever is coming down, but I need to talk to you about that. Let's go to the outer room," Dayna told her. Once they were out of Daryl's room Dayna fully admitted what she had done to Denise who listened to her without interrupting. When she finished, she waited for Denise to respond. Dayna knew she had stepped way out of bounds of her parameters, but she would do it again for Daryl.

Denise thought for a few moments, before responding. What Dayna had done was irresponsible and under normal circumstances she would have brought up against the nursing board with her license on the line. Denise knew that the both of them were going to have to stretch the limits of their abilities to take care of the people of Alexandria. What she had done was dangerous, but Denise may have done the same thing if she thought of it.

"Okay, what you did was dangerous even though it looks like it worked. I need you and I to work together as a team, Dayna so I can't have you going out of the box without me being involved. If you had woken me up and we talked about, I think I would have helped you with it. I can't have you doing risky procedures without me," Denise told her. Dayna kept her eyes on the floor knowing she was wrong. "You are an excellent nurse and no one knows that better than I do., but we just need to be a team, okay?"

"I completely understand, Denise. I'm sorry that I didn't run this by you first," she apologized.

"However this played out, you probably saved his life. Daryl is one lucky man," Denise said trying to take the sting out of her reprimand. "When does he get the next dose?"

"In about forty-five minutes. Do you want to see what I did?" Dayna asked.

"Of course! Let's go check it out. Do you want me to spell you for a while, I can?" Denise suggested. She had already gotten few hours of sleep so she was refreshed.

"No, I'll stay with him. It's all I have with him, so I want to be there even if he is asleep." Dayna would take advantage of any time she could spend with him. This was better than nothing.

"Before we go back in, let's sit down and you tell me the story of you and Daryl. This will help me understand everything." So the two of them sat themselves down and Dayna poured out her story to Denise. Over the next half hour Denise learned about Dayna's heartache from the ups and downs of her non-relationship with Daryl. At the end she gave Dayna a hug, and told her "Maybe someday he will wise up and see what a great woman you are. If he doesn't he has no idea what a huge loss that is to him. I'm so sorry, Dayna."

"You're right it is his loss, because I am awesome," she said defiantly. "Let's go give him another dose so he can live with the fact that he missed out on the best thing that could have happened to him!"

"Good girl!" said Denise and they headed back into Daryl's room to do just that.

* * *

After they gave Daryl another dose of the antibiotic, Denise left to go back to sleep and Dayna returned to Daryl's bedside. She dozed on and off in the chair until morning. Daryl woke up while she was lightly sleeping. He felt bad that she was in that cramped position in that chair because she was babysitting him. He could tell the fever was down as he didn't feel hot and sweaty or drained like before. Daryl stared at her face for a long time. She was a natural beauty who didn't need makeup or anything to make her look incredible. How could someone like her be interested in him? It just didn't make any sense.

He was still astounded that she liked him. She was too pretty, too nice and too good for him. That's what the voice in his head would whisper. " _She's too good for you Dixon_ ," it kept telling him. " _Even if you did get in with her, she'd drop your sorry ass in instant once she realized what a loser you are. Why risk it?_ " On the other hand, he wanted to believe that he was a better man now than he was before and he should take this chance before he loses it. For now the voice won out.

Dayna's eyes slowly fluttered open and she saw him staring at her. "Hi," she said sleepily. "Some nurse I am falling asleep on my patient."

"You needed it," he said simply. "I'm feeling pretty good."

"Awesome. Maybe we can get you up today?"

"I wanna go home today, back to my room," Daryl told her.

"Not so fast. You were in pretty bad shape last night. Denise will check you out today and make that call."

"What if I just go home?" he said firmly. He didn't want anyone taking care of him anymore. He could do it himself.

Dayna just smiled at him. She knew she had some leverage on him. "You need clothes to go home in and you don't have any here. When Denise says you can go, we'll get some clothes for you."

"What happened to my shit?" Daryl demanded.

"We had to cut most of it off you. But…" Dayna was interrupted before she could finish.

"Why about my vest?" he practically shouted.

Dayna gave him a look that brought many a medial resident to their knees. "If you had bothered to let me finish I was about to say that I saved your precious vest. The bullet even missed it. It's a bit bloody, but other than that… it's fine." Daryl's intense blue eyes met hers and they stayed locked together that for a moment with neither saying anything. "I know how much that vest means to you, so it's safe. I made sure of it."

Daryl's faced softened instantly. "Really, it's okay?" Dayna nodded. "It reminds me of…Merle and even though he was a dick of a brother…he was my brother. Thanks." Daryl's voice was thick with unexpected emotion and it touched Dayna.

"Don't worry I had your back," she told him quietly. "Always will." Dayna flashed him a gentle smile, before heading back to her nursing duties. Daryl's vitals were recorded and she had him propped up when Denise walked into the room.

"Well you certainly look better today," she said to Daryl. Dayna handed her the chart to review. "Everything is definitely improving."

"I can go home today, right Doc?" he asked hopeful.

"You were a pretty sick man just last night, Daryl. I think we need to keep an eye on you at least another day." Denise could see he was about to argue. "Doctor's orders. You were shot, lost a lot of blood, had surgery, developed and infection and fever and was in critical condition the whole time. Need I say more?"

"Is he giving you a hard time, Doc?" Rick asked from the doorway. Rick didn't let it show but he was ecstatic that not only was Daryl awake, he was being a pain in the ass. That was sure sign that he was doing better.

"Not if he knows what's good for him," Denise laughed. "C'mon in and keep him company, but don't let him talk you into helping him make a break for it. He needs at least one more day here."

Rick walked over to Daryl and sat down. "You look better, man. You had us all worried there for a while." Rick had learned to count on and respect Daryl. Their relationship now is very different than it was early on. The first day they met Daryl pulled a knife on Rick that could have ended very badly. Rick often laughed to himself that before the apocalypse he most likely would have been the one arresting Daryl, instead of being best friends with him. Now they were as close as brothers.

"Yeah, Dayna came up with an idea as the meds weren't working, but the fever is down now and I'm ready to get out of here," Daryl said. While he felt much better, Daryl still felt weak, but he didn't want to admit that to anyone. He just wanted to go back to his room for his privacy and to distance himself from Dayna. She was too much of a temptation.

Rick laughed at Daryl. "Since that ain't gonna be happening according to Denise, let me catch you up on what's been going on while you've been here taking it easy." Rick ignored the glare that Daryl sent him and they talked about Alexandria for a while.

Carol showed up shortly with breakfast for Daryl and Dayna. Rick left, with a promised to come back in the afternoon and Carol stayed for a while visiting. Denise convinced Dayna to head home to get some sleep. They decided that Daryl didn't need anyone overnight with him anymore, but Dayna would sit with him or be available during the evening hours.

During the day other members of their group came by to see how Daryl was doing. Denise didn't want him over doing it, so she held off on letting people in during the afternoon so he could rest. Daryl felt he was being treated like a baby, yet when he closed his eyes after Glenn left he feel into an exhausted sleep.

Dayna hadn't had much sleep in the last forty-eight hours so Denise practically ordered her not to return until six o'clock. Dayna actually slept until almost five. She had been surviving on the last limits of her energy and desperately needed to refuel. She took a leisurely shower and took her time getting ready. Dayna decided to leave her long hair down for a change, but she didn't want to look like she was trying to impress Daryl, when she actually was. They would be spending a couple quality hours together and she wanted him to really see her. Dayna was also hoping to get him to open up to her tonight on what happened coming back from the supply run. He did owe her an explanation, which she wasn't sure she wanted to hear, but she needed to know.

After a quick dinner Dayna walked over to the infirmary and took a deep breath before she entered. She was about to put a lot on the table tonight with Daryl and she had no idea how it would turn out, but it was something she had to do.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

Daryl's room was quiet as Dayna entered closing the door softly behind her. Denise had already updated her on him. His vital signs were all strong, he was eating well and was being his normal surly self. He was well on the road to recovery. Dayna had a surprise for him with her tucked into the bag she carried.

She quietly walked across the room, when Daryl's head turned towards her. "Where've you been all day?" he demanded. Being stuck in the bed was making him very grouchy and he was starting to take it out on everyone.

"Good afternoon to you to," she said with a big smile. "I was sleeping since I spent the better part of the last two days here with you watching you sleep and trying to get you better, which I did. So unless you want me to take back the surprise I brought with me, drop the attitude." Dayna watched as her words sunk in. Daryl's intense angry expression relaxed.

"Sorry about being a dick," he apologized. "Being stuck in this bed is driving me crazy."

"That's why I brought you a surprise. If you want to go back to your room tomorrow, I need to make sure that you can get around okay, so…I brought you clothes." Dayna watched Daryl's face and saw excitement flash across it.

"Hand them over!" he demanded enthusiastically struggling to sit up.

"Alright, but I'm staying in the room while you change. I'll turn my back, but don't you dare stand up unless I am with you. Got that?" Dayna tried to glare at him, but she couldn't help but smile. It was the first time she had ever seen him happy like this.

Dayna handed him the clothes that Carol picked out for him, before walking away and turning her back. "Don't button the shirt. I still need access to the bandage," Dayna reminded him.

"Whatever," he responded. It was quiet for a minute or so and Dayna heard sounds of clothing moving around. "No peeking," he teased." I know you wanna, but you gotta resist"

Dayna let out a big exaggerated sigh. "Okay, I'll try not to look, but…"

"But what?"

"But how do you know that I haven't already looked before today," she said her voice a little bit husky.

"Because you're too damn honest and you told me you didn't, so you didn't. You can turn around." Daryl's faith in her touched her. She was just teasing him, but she would never have invaded his privacy that way.

When Dayna turned around, Daryl was sitting on the side of the bed. He had a slightly pained expression on his face. "Does the incision hurt?" she asked hurrying to his side.

"Yeah," was all he said.

"I'll get you something for the pain, once we try this. Give me your hand and you can try standing," she told him but only received a glare in response. "Humor me, please." Dayna held out her left hand for him to grab. When he did, she placed her right arm around him for support and heard him mumble, "Treated like a damn baby" under his breath.

Daryl rose slowly, briefly closing his eyes as a sharp pain shot through his side. He stood still for a minute until it subsided. "See it's not as easy as you think," Dayna whispered. "Just take your time."

As physically fit Daryl was before being shot, he was surprised on how weak he was now just a few days later. Just putting one foot in front of the other was big effort. They walked around the room once before Dayna forced him into a chair. Daryl was completely out of breath. "We'll go around again, when you're ready."

"I hate feeling this fuckin' bad," he complained dropping his head down.

Dayna squatted down in front of him. "Daryl, look at me." He raised his eyes to meet hers. "What you don't understand if that it takes a lot of time for your body to replenish the blood you loss from the gun shot and the surgery. Just that, not even considering what happened after that would slow anyone down. You're probably very anemic and that affects your entire body including your breathing. You just need time to recover. Just be patient. Okay?"

Daryl nodded knowing she was right. "I'm gonna go again, but on my own. No helping me."

"You sure?"

"Yep. I can do it," he told her.

Daryl rose carefully from the chair taking a moment to let the pain subside before he started. Unconsciously he gritted his teeth and he slowly made his way around the room. It was impossible not to notice how his pants hung low on his lean hips. Without wearing the belt he normally did, they slid down lower than normal causing Dayna's heart to beat a little faster. He had left his shirt open as she had asked and white bandage was clearly visible.

Dayna forgot to concentrate on how he was doing and let her mind wander to how it would feel to touch him again. She wanted to have her hands on his chest like she did that morning in the hotel room. She wanted to push his hair out of his face so she could both see him and touch him. Her thoughts kept wandering until she realized he was talking to her.

"Sorry, you said something Daryl?" she asked.

"Ain't you watching me?" he said breathing heavy. "This is the third time around."

"Of course, just got side tracked for a second," she lied. "Time to rest for a while. We'll keep doing this tonight to get you more mobile, but it's back to bed for us."

Daryl stopped next to Dayna. He had a smirk on his face that confused her. "What?" she asked.

"Back to bed for us?" he asked. "That's what you just said."

Dayna's face turned a brilliant shade of red instantly. " _Oh God, did I really just say that_?" she thought to herself. "Back to bed for…you. I just mixed up my words, no big deal," she said trying to get herself out of the embarrassing situation. How could she have said that? She was mortified as that was exactly what she had been thinking about.

"Yeah…okay," he said laughing at her as he sat back down on the bed. A sharp pull on his stitches had him wincing in pain.

"And that's what you get for laughing at me," she told him with a smile. "Now lay down on your right side, bring your legs up onto the bed and then roll onto your back. It will pull less that way." Daryl tried what Dayna suggested and sure enough the pain wasn't as sharp or bad.

"You want to rest awhile or what now?" she asked him after propping pillows up behind him.

"Naw, I'm so fuckin' tired of resting and sleeping. I'm bored of doin' nuthin' . You got anythin' for me?" he hopefully asked.

"Well…I did bring these with me." Dayna pulled a pack of playing cards out of her pocket.

"Hell yeah!" he laughed. "Let's play us some poker."

"Do you want a drink before we play?" Dayna asked getting up to get herself a glass of water.

"Grab me a beer," he said with a straight face.

Dayna turned and raised her eyebrows at him. "Yeah, right. How does water sound?" Dayna hadn't had a beer or anything alcoholic since this whole crazy world began.

"Boring, but okay," Daryl told her. "What can we use for betting?"

Dayna returned with two glasses of water and placed them on the bedside table. " _What could they use to bet with_?" she thought. "Oh, I have an idea! Be right back!" and she ran out of the room. The infirmary was in a house that they converted and Denise used the previous occupant's library as her office. Dayna thought she remembered that there was a jar on one of the shelves and sure enough when she went into the office there is was. Untouched after all this time. She picked it up and brought it back to Daryl. "Pennies! We have lots and lots of pennies to use."

"Not bad," he said as he took the jar from her and started to divvy up the coins so they had equal amounts. They then settled into a long evening of poker. To keep it interesting they changed the game every once in a while. Daryl was clearly a better card player than Dayna, who had yet to develop any type of poker face so she often gave herself away. Every now and then he'd throw a hand just to see her get excited about winning.

Every hour or so, Dayna would get Daryl up to walk around the room a few times. It was getting easier for him all the time. Finally Dayna threw her hand down. "I'm done. I've lost for the last time, plus I'm tired of playing."

"Me too," Daryl said scooping his big pile of pennies back into the jar. "You gonna go?"

"It's up to you. You're well enough to be on your own tonight, so I'm not staying over. I can head back now or …I can stay longer. It's up to you." Dayna wanted to spend as much time with him as possible, but she didn't want to overstay her welcome. She threw the decision into his lap. They were relating to each other on a friends basis and she didn't want to lose that. It was better than nothing.

Daryl wasn't an impulsive person by any means, but this time he spoke before that damned voice in his head could tell him otherwise. "Stay," was all he said. He continued to gather cards and pennies not looking at Dayna. He was going to regret this, but after the last few days he had, he needed something positive in his life. Dayna was that and more.

Dayna was sitting on the chair and Daryl was lying on the bed and for a few moments neither said a word. Just when the silence started to become strained Dayna got an idea. The best way to get a guy to talk was to talk about something he was passionate about. "So Aaron told me you built that bike you have from scrap parts. That's not something a normal person can do. How'd you get into motorcycles?"

And that's all it took. Daryl talked about learning to ride the motorcycle his brother had at an early age and the thrill it had given him. He found he was good with his hands and could fix most anything. Building a bike from scratch gave him something to do and ultimately enabled him to get around again on his terms. Dayna peppered him with questions here and there to keep him talking. This was one of the most relaxed times she had ever seen him.

Daryl's eyes had always seemed intense and brooding, but now they were brighter and softer. The always present tension in him was momentarily gone. They were actually laughing together and having fun and Dayna doubted that if any of his friends saw him now they would recognize him.

"I think you need to do your final walk of the night," Dayna told him. She hated to break up the fun they were having, but his recovery had to come first.

Daryl grumbled under his breath, but Dayna could see a smirk on his face. He was just giving her a hard time because he could. She let him stand up on his own and watched as he made several laps around the small room. She noticed his breathing was much better and she would recommend to Denise tomorrow that he could leave and go back to his room.

Dayna turned away from Daryl and straightened his bed and adjusted his pillows for him. When she turned around to see where he was, she jumped in surprise, as he was right next to her. Daryl reached out to grab her from losing her balance and ended up pulling her against him. They both stood together in his unexpected embrace, neither saying a word. Daryl then tipped her chin up and met Dayna's gaze. She suddenly had a feeling like her heart forgot to beat.

The urge to kiss her overwhelmed him, so he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. He couldn't help it, he couldn't stop it…he had to taste her again. It was a tender kiss, soft and teasing as he moved his lips over hers.

Dayna wrapped her arms around him and gave into the kiss. It felt like she had waited forever to be in his strong arms again with his lips against hers. Her heart soared as the kiss deepened and his hold on her increased.

" _God, she tastes so good_ ," he thought to himself. Daryl entangled his hands in her long silky hair as their lips and tongues explored each other. He felt himself harden instantly as his desire for her increased every second. They finally pulled apart gasping for breath. Daryl buried his head in the crook of her neck and listened to the way their harsh breathing filled the room.

They both finally sat down on the bed facing each other. Dayna didn't let go of Daryl's hand rubbing the back of it with her thumb needing to touch him whatever way she could. She wasn't going to let him go this time, they both needed each other too much, wanted each other too much for it to end any way but together.

Daryl was still surprised that she wanted him. After the way he had treated her after the medical supply run, she should hate him. Why didn't she? Why couldn't she hate him, it would have made everything so much easier. His erection was uncomfortable in his pants so he adjusted himself the best he could. Dayna smiled back at him loving the dilemma he was in and more than willing to help him with it.

In the short time they sat on the bed, that damned voice in Daryl's head started talking to him non-stop. " _You wanna fuck her? Go ahead do it and see where it lands ya? Maybe you get a night or two or even a week with her, but it won't last. You're not good enough for her and you know it. Either she'll just walk away from you like everyone else did or you'll end up hurting her and pissing everyone off. They love her here and they tolerate you. How's that gonna work out for you asshole? Make your choice, but either way you're a loser…and you always will be one. All Dixons are."_

"Daryl? Daryl?" Dayna called to him softly her right hand resting on his scruffy cheek. "You okay?"

"Oh…yeah…sorry," he answered her. "I was just…umm, surprised."

"Me too, but it was a wonderful surprise." Dayna leaned in and lightly kissed his lips.

Her kiss affected him like no one else's ever had. He had lusted after women before and bedded several, but no one made him feel the way she did. He wanted her all the way heart, body and soul, but that fuckin' voice in his head kept screwing things up for him. He tried not to listen to it, but the voice overpowered the feelings in his heart. He hung his head down, not wanting to look at her.

"Listen…"he started to say, but Dayna quickly interrupted him.

"Oh no you don't. You are not going to back out of this again!" she demanded. What the hell was wrong with him? Or was it her? "Look at me Daryl…look at me." Daryl raised his head up finally so his eyes met hers. Dayna's eyes was filled with fury and confusion. "You need to explain to me what is going on with us? I don't understand. This is the third time, you've backed off suddenly and I deserve to know why. I know you like me and want me, you can't deny that, so what the fuck, Daryl"

He knew he owed her the truth. He just wasn't any good with words, but he had to figure out how to explain this. "Yes, I like ya…more than I should," he started to say trying to arrange his thoughts. "And you could clearly tell that I wanted ya, how could I not…you're so fuckin' hot, but I don't think I can do this…with us."

"Why?" she asked softly.

"Because you don't know me. Don't know who I am, what I am capable of or where I came from. It's not anything you should be around." He was trying to explain without telling her what a failure he was.

"I don't understand. I've been around you for a couple of months now, so I'm not unfamiliar with you. I see how your friends respect you and love you, are you telling me they all have it wrong? Are you some sort of monster that we don't know about?" Daryl had Dayna completely confused. If he liked her and wanted to be with her, then why was he trying to run away again? It made to sense at all.

"You make me want something I have no business wanting. I can't get involved with anyone, Dayna. It would just hurt the both of us in the long run. I…I can't love you like you deserve," he admitted. Daryl forced the tears that threated to fall back. He was not going to cry like a fuckin' baby in front of her…no matter how much this hurt him.

Dayna felt her heart break for him. He was doing this for her? "If you let your heart open up Daryl, it will love."

He got up off the bed and looked down at her. "You don't understand. No one can." How could he love her, when he didn't know what love was? No one his entire life had ever shown him anything close to love. Not his parents, not his brother not anyone else.

"Try me please, Daryl. I want to understand. I can help you. I know I can," Dayna pleaded with him.

'You don't know what my life was before the fuckin' world fell apart. Who I was before this…was someone I despise. You don't want to know those stories," he told her sadly.

"Maybe I do," she said boldly.

"Maybe I'm not ready to tell." Daryl paced around the room for a moment before settling back beside Dayna on the bed. "I'm sorry I am being such a prick, but if we get together now, I will ruin it. I know somehow I will. I'm not ready for someone as important as you could be to me. I'm sorry." That was the most honest he had ever been with anyone about his feelings. They were something he never talked about to anyone…not Carol, certainly not Rick. He hoped she understood.

This was the first time Dayna had any insight into Daryl and why he acted the way he did. How bad had been his life prior to the turn? If was scary to think that this was better for him now and Dayna would bet anything that it was. She knew he liked her, so that was a start. She would get him to realize that he could love others and that many already loved him…then he could love her. She could figure this out and she would.

"Okay, I think understand what you are saying, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. However, I will accept it for now on one condition."

"What's that?" he asked.

"That we remain friends. No running from me anymore. We talk to each other, laugh with each other and occasionally you can let me beat you in poker. Okay?" Dayna knew that for her to finally get through to Daryl they had to be friends, otherwise she would never see him.

A small smile appeared in the corner of Daryl's mouth. No one else could make him smile like she did. "Okay," he agreed in his gravelly voice. Staying friends with her was something he didn't want to lose.

"Alright then. For once we are on the same page," Dayna said standing up. "And I think this is a good time to go home. Take those pills in the cup on the counter before you go to bed and I'll see you in the morning."

Daryl stood up too, his hands nervously in his pockets. "Thanks for understanding."

"I'm glad we talked this out. We needed to." Dayna placed a gently kiss on his cheek, flashed him a brilliant smile and walked out of the room.

Daryl watched the door close quietly behind her, lying back down on the bed. He put his right hand behind his head and stared up at the ceiling. He felt relieved and empty at the same time. He prayed someday, he could be the man that Dayna deserved, but until then he'd be her friend…as much as that killed him. It was better than nothing.

* * *

Bonus chapter today! Enjoy!


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

The dark night sky was full of bright twinkling stars as Dayna walked back to the house. She really had a good time with Daryl tonight. He had been relaxed, talkative and fun, which were characteristics most people wouldn't associate with him. It was wonderful to see this side of him. She slowly walked down the quiet street and got a dreamy look on her face as she recalled the kiss. It was even better than she remembered. His lips on hers sent sparks throughout her entire body that she never wanted to stop. They fit together perfectly…or so she thought.

Her smile changed as she rehashed the conversation they had after the kiss. It certainly wasn't what she expected to hear. Dayna wanted Daryl to say that he wanted to be with her…in a relationship with her, but that didn't happen. At least she knew more of what was going on in his head…well sort of. Dayna got the impression that he didn't think he was right for her, but that made no sense. Of course he was. Did he think that she was out of his reach…that he wasn't good enough for her? Well if he did that was just bullshit. She wasn't anything special. He had no idea what she had been through these last two years, just like she didn't know what happened to him before. Did he not realize that it was the person he was now that counted?

Someone must have hurt him very badly for him not to feel that he could love someone. Didn't he know that he already did? He loved Rick and Carol as family, how could he not see that? That was love, just not the kind that she was looking for. By the time Dayna had walked to her front steps she knew it was just going to take time to get Daryl to realize that they really needed each other.

Once she was inside her room, she quickly stripped off her clothes and dropped them to the floor. She loved the fact that not only did she have her own room, but her own private en suite bathroom too. She jumped in and took a nice long hot shower. Dayna towel dried her hair and put on an old t-shirt to sleep in, then she climbed under the covers still thinking about Daryl. She was going to be the best damn friend he had ever had. She'd make sure that they talked often, that she made him laugh and that he could count on her. If she could do something special for him every now and then, she would. Dayna knew that Carol was on her side and maybe she could get some advice from her. Now that she kind of had a plan in place, Dayna snuggled under the warm covers and drifted off to sleep thinking of Daryl.

The next morning Dayna arrived at the infirmary just after breakfast. She had made a point to let Carol know that she needed her help with something and asked if they could get together sometime during the week. She didn't see Denise around so she poked her head in the office and found her there. "How's our patient doing?" she asked.

"I'm hiding out from him," Denise laughed. "He wants to go, but I told him I needed to check with you first. There weren't too many notes on his chart from last night. How'd he do?"

"Yeah, I need to catch up with that. I got kinda sidetracked, sorry," she said sheepishly. "But anyway, he started slow, and was walking really well towards the end of the evening and his breathing really improved. I think he could handle being home, as long as he rests and doesn't do anything strenuous for a while, but the decision is up to you." Personally Dayna wished he would stay at the infirmary, then she be able to see him without looking obvious, but it was really in his best interest to go home.

"He's been asking me to go home since I checked in on him a little while ago, but I told him I wanted to touch base with you. I think he can head home as long as he doesn't overdue it and rests for the next two weeks at least. He also has to come in for a daily bandage change. Give him six days' worth of amoxicillin to take with him four times a day. I'll let you give him the good news." Denise watched Dayna throw her a quick smile, before hurrying out of the office. Daryl had been the most complicated patient she had since she taken on after Pete, the previous doctor, was killed. He had the kind of injury that if you had asked her last week if she could handle it, she would have said absolutely not. However, knowing she had no other choice and with the skilled help of Dayna, she was able to perform the surgery to save him. It gave her the confidence boost that she needed. Denise felt that she could be the doctor Alexandria required, especially if she kept reading and studying. She finally felt that she was contributing to the community.

Dayna knocked on Daryl's door before she entered. "Come in," he called out.

"Hey," she said with a bright smile. She didn't want him to think she was uncomfortable with what had happened last night.

"You better be here to tell me I'm outta here," he growled. "Been waiting all damn day."

"It's barely 9 o'clock, so stop exaggerating," she said rolling her eyes. "I talked to Denise."

"And?"

"You are free to go and drive everyone else crazy," she laughed, "But!"

"But what?" he said gathering up the personal items he came in with like his vest, his knives and assorted items he kept in his pockets.

"You need to see me for a daily bandage change and I'll give you antibiotics to take home with you. Take then four times a day, which is every six hours," she instructed him.

"I may not have gone to college, but I can count," he said sharply.

Dayna turned to him, from preparing the pills he needed to take. "Daryl, shut up. I'm trying to help you leave and you are being nothing but an ass." She stared at him trying to look intimidating, until she saw the corner of his mouth lift up in a half smile.

"You're bedside manner sucks," Daryl told her with a grin. He enjoyed bantering with her as she gave it right back to him.

"Yeah, well deal with it," she laughed. "You were none too easy of a patient either." Dayna handed him the pill bottle and he tucked it into his pants pocket. "Denise changed the bandage this morning, so just come back tomorrow. I'll walk you back to the house." She could see he was about to argue. "Don't even try it, consider it my last official duty as your nurse, but I am walking you back to the house."

"Whatever," he replied tucking his red bandana into his back pocket. Secretly he was happy she was going to walk with him.

"Yeah, whatever. You're lovin' it and you know it," Dayna teased. "Walking with me…totally raising your level of coolness. Just you wait and see."

Daryl looked at her and just shook his head. "You're nuts you know?" he said trying not to laugh.

"Absolutely," she agreed with a huge smile following him out of the room and finally outside.

The sun felt great to Daryl. He loved being outdoors as much as he could. Being cooped up inside drove him crazy. He kept his pace slow on purpose so he could spend every minute he could with Dayna. While he felt he shouldn't ever be in a relationship with her, that didn't mean he didn't want it.

Daryl immediately reached into his back pocket looking for his cigarettes. They weren't there. Then he remembered that these weren't the clothes he had come back in. he's have to put off smoking just a little while longer until he got home and found his stash.

Dayna kept up a running one-sided conversation about anything she could think of during their walk. Daryl was more than happy to let her do the talking and just listen to her. It was all too short of a walk because before they knew it they were at the house.

"Okay, enjoy your freedom, but nothing strenuous or going outside the walls for at least two weeks," she told him.

"Two weeks? Fuck that," he replied crossly.

"Yeah, two weeks. Your incision needs to heal properly. If you encounter a walker you'll rip the stitches when you go to stab it and you may not have the strength or ability to handle them. Take a break and stay safe. Please." Men like Daryl always wanted back into action as soon as possible and that was not an option for him at this time.

"Two weeks?" he complained. "I'll go crazy in here. Can't promise anything."

"You have to Daryl," Dayna told him.

"He has to what?" asked Rick from the front porch of the house.

"Take it easy and let the incision heal," Dayna told Rick. Then she turned her attention back to Daryl. "You had major surgery just a few days ago, please let it heal. You are a horrible patient, please don't make me go through that again. God no." Dayna ended with a dramatic eye roll that had Rick laughing as he walked down the steps to the sidewalk where they stood.

Daryl chuckled at Dayna. She was a goofball at times and he actually liked that. Then again he was a pain in the ass so she was right too. As much as he wanted to be back doing his normal routine, that would have to wait. He really did need to heal. "Alright," he conceded. "I'll take it easy, but I won't be happy about it."

"Good!" she said with a smile before turning to Rick. "Good luck…you're gonna need it!" She placed a quick kiss on Rick's cheek and headed back to the infirmary.

"She always ridin' my ass about sumthin," Daryl grumbled as he had Rick headed inside.

Rick knew Daryl pretty well. He may be griping, but it was all for show. He noticed how Daryl looked at Dayna and Rick bet he said those things about not taking it easy on purpose just to get a rise out of her. He also didn't fail to notice that when Dayna kissed him on the cheek, Daryl's eyes got hard and angry for a moment. Maybe Carol was right about them? His old friend deserved some happiness and companionship in his life and Dayna may just be the one.

Walking through the front door Rick, put his hand on Daryl's shoulder. "Daryl you can complain all you wanted, but I know you are enjoying every minute of her."

Daryl gave a little sarcastic laugh. "You got that wrong, man."

Rick looked turned to look at his friend. "No man, you got it wrong. You don't let a woman like that go. They are one in a million."

"Then you go for it, bro," Daryl said regretting his words. He can't believe he just told Rick to go after Dayna.

"Naw, she's definitely yours. Besides, I'm working on my own …let's just say relationship right now, so I'm good." Rick sneaky smile surprised Daryl.

"I wasn't gone that long, what the hell did I miss?"

"A lot, man…a lot."

Rick and Daryl both walked up the stairs together. Rick was going to check on his young daughter and Daryl was headed for his room. Rick left Daryl outside of his door with a pat on the back as he continued down the hall to find Judith.

Daryl stood outside his room for a minute before turning the knob and going in. He saw his crossbow sitting on the bed and was happy to see it again. He felt naked without it in his hand. Sitting down next to it he took a look around the room. It was actually the best place he had ever lived. It just never felt like home to him. It was too quiet…too lonely, which is why he spent very little time in it. He knew that if Dayna was there the room would feel completely different. She would make it a home, but just as that thought entered his head, he tossed it away. Dayna and him were never gonna happen so he had to stop thinking about it. It was time for him to accept it and move on. Too bad he didn't want to.


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

Dayna stood outside Rosita's door with her hand poised to knock. She hoped she would be able to convince her new friend to join her for dinner at the other house. Word had traveled through the groups grapevine that Carol and Maggie where cooking up an unofficial "Daryl's Home" dinner. Everyone knew that if Daryl knew they were having a dinner get-together for him, he wouldn't show up so they were keeping it quiet. Dayna knocked three quick raps on the door.

Rosita cautiously opened the door and smiled when she saw Dayna. "Hey, What's up?"

"Tonight at the big house there is an unofficial welcome home dinner for Daryl. Carol wants everyone there so I'm passing the word and hoping you would go over with me." Dayna leaned against the doorframe as she could see Rosita about to decline. "Please, will you go with me?" Dayna asked trying not to let Rosita say no.

"I don't know, I'm not sure I fit there anymore," Rosita said sadly.

"Oh yes you do! Just because you aren't with the idiot doesn't mean you aren't part of this group. If I am, then you most certainly are and I need backup tonight, so please tell me you will go." Dayna tried to make herself look needy, but she wasn't sure she was successful.

Rosita started to get curious. "What do you need backup for?"

"After another stupid fantastic kiss from Mr. Dixon, he backed off again!" Rosita looked at her with wide eyes. "Yep, once again he doesn't know want he wants, but we did talk and I did learn a little of what's going on in his head. He really is kinda messed up and I don't think anyone really knows how bad it is." Rosita was definitely interested now. "Ultimately we decided to be friends and I need to show him that I can do that, even though I'm secretly planning to win him over. So, I need a friend to hang with me and laugh and together we have a great time and show those two what they are missing. So how' bout if girl, are you in?"

Dayna was pretty sure she was going to be able to accomplish two things at once. Show her new friend that there is life without the men they wanted, but still keep their attention at the same time. Dayna smiled at Rosita, "Okay?"

"Okay, I'm in," Rosita answered with a big grin.

"Awesome! We have to be there in half an hour so I suggest we use the time wisely. Dress to show off our assets, without looking like we are trying of course, fluff the hair, and just be our incredibly hot selves. First one ready knocks on the others door. How does that sound?" Dayna was ready to show Daryl what he was missing, but not be very obvious about it. The prize at the end was going to be worth all the trouble.

"Sounds like a plan," Rosita replied happily. Dayna turned to head towards her room, but Rosita called out to her. "Dayna?"

"Yeah," she said turning around.

"Thanks…a lot,' Rosita told her touched that Dayna was including her.

Dayna smiled back at her. "No problem. See ya in a few." Both women closed themselves behind their respective doors and got themselves ready for a night of celebration and hopefully fun.

* * *

Daryl was completely bored and it was driving him crazy. He had tried to take a nap, but he couldn't fall asleep. He cleaned his knives and even checked over his crossbow, but there wasn't enough to do in his room to occupy him. Smells of food cooking started to come into his room and his stomach started to growl. Now as a good enough time as any to check out what was going on downstairs. Maybe he could get Carol to give him something to tide him over to dinner.

He left his room and started slowly down the stairs, when he realized her heard quite a few voices. Once he got down to the bottom he saw a lot more people than normal. " _What the hell is going on_?" he thought to himself. He caught Rick's eye and they did their typical nod of acknowledgment. Rick went back talking to Michonne. Carl was playing with Judith, Glenn was talking to Eugene, Abraham and Sasha, and Tara and Denise were with Dayna and Rosita. Dayna? " _What was she doing here_?" he wondered. That was very unexpected.

Dayna turned and her eyes locked with Daryl's. She flashed him an easy smile and went back to laughing with the girls. Daryl walked into the kitchen where Carol and Maggie were putting food out on the center island.

"Good you're just in time for dinner," Carol told him.

"What's going on?" Daryl asked her looking over the food on the counter. "Is this a party or what?"

Carol was already anticipating this question from Daryl. "Nope, just felt like cooking and we decided to invite everyone over. So get your fingers out of the potatoes and wait for everyone else," she chided him. Daryl sulked his way out of the kitchen licking his fingers as he went. Maggie laughed and Carol just shook her head.

They finished putting the rest of the food out, and Carol stood back surveying the items they had cooked up. The abundance of fresh vegetables was wonderful. Maggie along with several others that had a farming background tended a large vegetable garden that had been planted a few months ago. Everyone was reaping in the rewards with fresh vegetable to add to their table.

"Time to eat," Maggie called out. Everyone started to move towards the kitchen and the wonderful aromas coming from it.

Dayna managed to time herself just right to be in line behind Daryl and without even looking, he knew exactly where she was…inches away. He also hadn't missed that she was wearing skintight jeans that hugged every inch if her and her shirt was unbuttoned just far enough to make any guy want to see more. His heart started to beat faster just at the thought of unbuttoning her shirt. Lost in his fantasy, he suddenly felt her breathe on his ear as she leaned closer to him and asked, "How does it feel to be home?"

It took a second or two for Daryl to realize that Dayna was talking to him. He turned his head to answer her. "Umm, good…but..."

"But what?"

"Already bored out of my fuckin' mind already. Two weeks of this shit is gonna kill me." Daryl was not used to sitting around and doing nothing. He was always active, always had something he was doing and being idle wasn't what he was used to.

Dayna laughed at him. "You've only been home a couple of hours, it can't be that bad." Daryl simply gave her a look of total frustration that had her rolling her eyes. "In a couple days I'm sure there is something here that you can do, that doesn't require physical activity. Maybe Rick needs a babysitter for Judith? " she suggested knowing that would be the last thing he would want to do.

He threw her a look that normally would have had anyone else running for their lives, but Dayna just smiled at him. Daryl didn't let her know that he secretly enjoyed that he never could intimidate her. He really liked that about her. Hell, he liked most everything about her unfortunately.

The line had moved along so he finally made his plate and took his usual seat by the window. While he was sure he looked like he was concentrating on eating, he was fully aware of everything that was going on in the room, including everything that Dayna did. He knew she was back sitting with Rosita and they looked like they were having a good time together. " _When did they become such close friends_?" he wondered. " _Musta been while I was out of commission_."

Daryl looked around the room and noticed that most everyone was sitting with at least one other person and everyone was laughing and having a good time. He was stuck in his usual place…alone. He needed to stop keeping himself apart from others so much. He knew he was his own worst enemy sometimes.

"Scoot over," said a familiar voice and Daryl looked up to see Carol standing in front of him with a plate in her hand. Leave it to Carol to figure out what he needed. "Scoot."

"I'm moving, give me a fuckin' second to do it," he groused on purpose. His cursing always pissed Carol off.

She sat down next to Daryl, letting her left elbow catch him in the ribs on his good side. "Oops, sorry," she said with one of her sweet smiles. She didn't fool Daryl for a minute,

"You did that on purpose. What the hell for?"

Carol took a couple mouthfuls of food before she answered him. "First, watch your mouth. Second, why are you sitting over here all alone? All of these people are your friends…your family. They are here for you, yet here you are isolating yourself again." She turned her head to look at Daryl, before continuing to eat.

"What do you mean they are here for me? You said this was just dinner." Daryl looked suspiciously at Carol.

"Well I lied," She said matter-of-factly. "They're all here for you. We almost lost you, so we're here to celebrate. Woo-freaking-hoo." Carol kept on eating, but she had her eye on Daryl. She saw the corner of his mouth curve into a half smile and she relaxed.

"Hey, what's up with that?" Daryl asked nodding his head toward Rick and Michonne, where Rick had his hand on her waist.

"New development. Seems like we have a new couple in our midst," Carol told him while taking his finished plate. "Go socialize."

Daryl just laughed at her. Carol shook her head in frustration as she brought dirty dishes back to the kitchen.

Rick noticed that Daryl was sitting alone so he took Michonne's hand and they went to sit by him. Rick pulled up a chair and Michonne took Carol's spot. The three old friends fell into an easy conversation.

Across the room, Rosita stood up and turned to Dayna. "I think I'm going to head back." She tried as much as she could, but it still hurt to see Abraham and Sasha together. "Thanks for making me come."

Dayna smiled up at her friend. "I'm glad you came. He did notice you, you know? I saw him watching you when Sasha was talking to other people, but he did notice you." Dayna stood up and gave Rosita a hug. "I know it's hard,' she whispered to Rosita, "But someday you and I will find our happiness. I know it."

Rosita whispered back, "Thank you," and left.

Dayna walked over to Sasha, Abraham and Eugene and talked with them for a little bit. Sasha was still a friend of hers and Dayna did the best she could to stay out of the middle of the little drama they had going on with Rosita.

People had slowly started to leave, but Dayna noticed they all stopped by Daryl at some point to talk to him. It warmed Dayna's heart knowing he had such good friends. She excused herself and went to see if she could be any help in the kitchen. Tara and Denise were already helping Carol and Maggie and with Dayna pitching in they had everything cleaned up and put away quickly.

Dayna went to get a book from the library that she wanted to bring back to her room, but couldn't find one that interested her. When she came back to the living room, only Daryl was left. "Where did everyone go?" she asked him.

"Guess they had stuff to do."

"Oh…well then I guess I'll go too." Dayna hesitated for a moment. "It's a nice night out and I was thinking about taking a walk. Do you want to come?"

Daryl tilted his head towards her. He thought for a second, _"Should I go or not_?" He realized there was no rational reason why he shouldn't. They were friends simply just going on a walk. "I think I can handle a walk...it'll be good to get outside for a bit. I miss it."

Dayna was laughing as they walked across the room. "Daryl this is only the first day that you've been home."

"Yep...but if you count the day I was shot and my time in the infirmary, it's been too fuckin' long." They walked out onto the front porch and down the steps. "I don't feel closed in out here, I can breathe."

They started strolling slowly down the dark street and Daryl stopped briefly to light a cigarette, before they continued on.

"I got used to being outdoors all the time these last few years. It took a little getting used to and I still prefer a mattress to the hard ground, but on nights like this it's beautiful. I could stay out here all night. Look at all those stars up there, Daryl." After a little while Dayna stopped to look up. The black sky was filled with bright twinkling stars.

While Dayna looked up, Daryl looked at Dayna. The night wasn't the only thing beautiful he saw. Suddenly Dayna grabbed his hand and pulled him over to a grassy area. They were far enough from the houses so that the lights didn't disturb the night. She sat down on the grass and gently pulled him down with her.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I wanna watch the stars. C'mon it'll be fun," she coaxed him. Dayna lay down on her back, so she could stare directly up at the night sky. Daryl slowly lay down with her so their heads were next to each other, practically touching. "I wish I had paid more attention to astronomy in school to know what I was looking at. What about you, Daryl? As a hunter and tracker did you learn the stars?"

"Yeah, I learned some," he told her and started pointing out what he knew, which was surprisingly a lot. He played right into her hands. The walk was a spur of the moment idea, and once she saw the brilliant sky, Dayna had guessed that with Daryl's background he would know a fair amount about the stars. He knew a lot more than she anticipated, and just like when they talked about motorcycles, he was passionate about the stars too.

Together they laid there on the grass inches from each other gazing up at the night sky. Daryl pointed out different stars, planets and even some of the constellations to her. Dayna was really surprised by his vast knowledge and enjoyed everything he was showing her. Then they just laid there enjoying the brilliant view, not saying a word as the stars shone bright above them.

It could have been minutes or it could have been hours that they just staring up at the sky, when Dayna exclaimed, "Did you see that? It was a shooting star!"

Daryl had seen them many times before, but they still were fun to watch. "Yep, I caught it."

Dayna turned her head to look at him, she eyes bright with childish excitement. "That was awesome! I wanna see another. Help me find more!"

Daryl couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm. "Sure. You gotta keep your eyes on the sky. They go by in a flash."

She shot him a huge smile before turning her concentration back to the dark heavens above. Daryl put his right hand behind his head and even though he was looking up, his mind was not on stars shooting or otherwise. " _Was this what it was like to be with a normal girl_?" he wondered. Women had no place in his and Merle's lives except for sex. He had never met anyone he wanted around for more than a few days and he never took them on any dates or would have ever considered lying in the grass watching the stars.

This was a whole different experience for him and he was surprised that he really liked it. Lying here with Dayna felt good…felt normal and it gave them something to share. He had never wanted to share anything with a woman before. Maybe…but before he could think anymore Dayna sat up and hugged her knees.

"I'm getting cold. I think I better head back home," she told him. Even though she had a light jacket on, the cooler night air and the ground didn't provide any warmth.

"Yeah, it's time," he agreed. He didn't want the night to end, but it had to. He often wondered why he made the decisions he did.

Dayna stood up and held out a hand to him. His side was still pretty tender and it helped that she assisted him up. He hated that and he could have gotten up on his own, but he was learning to take the help that others offered him.

They headed back to the houses and Daryl noticed that she was shivering. It wasn't a long walk, but he felt bad that he didn't have a coat to give her. It surprised him that he even thought of that. "I'm sorry that you got cold," he said.

"It just all of a sudden happened. I'll be okay until I get back."

"Wish I had a coat to give you," he told her. All he had on was a long sleeve shirt and his vest. Then he got an idea that he acted on without even thinking. "Come 'ere." He wrapped his right arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to him. All he had to offer her was his body heat and that was just fine with Dayna.

She wrapped her arm around his waist, loving both the warm he gave her and just the feel of him. This is what she wanted from him, but she was smart enough to know not to push it. He had to work out the problems he had first or they would never stand a chance. Dayna was going to continue just being his friend, until he realized that they should be more. A night like this was a perfect example on why they belonged together.

All too soon they were in front of Dayna's house. On purpose she was the one that let go first and he followed. The loss he felt without her there surprised him. Daryl looked over at Dayna and saw that she was smiling at him.

"Thanks for joining me tonight. I enjoyed learning about the stars and I really liked seeing that shooting star. I even made a wish," she told him.

"What was it?"

"Now you know if I tell you, it won't come true…so I'm just gonna keep that to myself...for now," she said with a laugh. Then her face got a little bit more serious. "You're a good man, Daryl. Don't you ever forget that." She took his rough hand in hers and gave it a squeeze, before she turned and walked up the steps and into the house leaving Daryl alone on the sidewalk.

He watched the door close softly behind her. He stood there a second staring that the front door silently praying that she would come back out, but she never did. The deadbolt turned locking her inside and Daryl started to walk back to his house and for the hundredth time he wondered why he did this to himself. He was the one holding back, he was the one not willing to take a chance and for what? To play it safe? To be alone forever?

Daryl slowly walked up his front steps to the porch and before he headed inside he looked over at Dayna's house. He had figured out which was her bedroom a long time ago. He lit a cigarette and watched her windows while he smoked. Occasionally he could see her dark shape walk back and forth until the light eventually went off. Only then did Daryl go inside and head up to his room.

He plopped down on the bed, instantly regretting as a sharp pain from his stitches instantly reminded him he needed to be careful. He didn't even bother undressing as he stared at the blank ceiling. He chose to live his life this way, while others around him found happiness like Glenn and Maggie, Abraham and Sasha, Tara and Denise and now even Rick and Michonne.

Maybe it was time to change his thinking…then again...maybe not.


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

The first couple days after Daryl got home he would go to the infirmary in the morning so that Dayna could change the dressing. Then it was every couple days until Denise decided that the stitches could finally come out. She then told him in three days after he could resume all normal activity. Typical Daryl, he was ready to start the second he left the infirmary. He didn't see any sense in waiting. He felt perfectly fine.

He was raring to get back to his usual comings and goings. Maybe he'd go find Aaron and see if they could go out recruiting. He just needed to get out beyond these walls that always felt like a cage to him. His freedom also meant that he would see less of Dayna. They hadn't spent any more time together like they did that night that they looked at the stars. He wasn't good at thinking about shit like that to do, so he did nothing.

Daryl decided he was definitely going to track down Aaron so they could discuss when to make a recruiting run. The sooner the better Daryl felt. He walked over to the house that Eric and Aaron shared but no one was at home. Maybe one of them was on watch, so he went to the nearest watch tower and saw Eugene. Daryl called up to him,"Yo, Eugene."

"Hello, Daryl. Do you need something?" Eugene answered.

"Have you seen Aaron or Eric?"

"That's a negative. Have you asked Rick? He's your best prospect with the knowledge," he told him.

"Gonna do that next." Daryl nodded his thanks to Eugene and went in search of Rick. He found him in the library of their house going over plans with Abraham. Nothing that had to do with Alexandria was private so Daryl just stayed and listened to the conversation and threw out a few ideas of his own. Before he knew it a few hours had gone by and he still hadn't even asked about Aaron.

Finally Abraham rolled up the plans and headed back to the construction site. "Doc, give you clean bill of health?" Rick asked as they left the library and headed to the kitchen. Having missed lunch, Rick rummage through the refrigerator looking for something to eat.

"Yep. Was lookin' for Aaron to see bout makin' a recruitin' run, but I can't find him. You got an idea of where he at?" Daryl asked. He saw a bowl of leftover potatoes in the fridge and grabbed it before Rick could. He popped a couple in his mouth. Damn, even cold they tasted good.

"He and Eric went out looking for people this morning." Rick waited for the explosion that he was sure going to happen. It didn't take long.

"Fuck no! That's my job," Daryl shouted. "I'm supposed to be out there not Eric. Why the hell didn't he wait?" Daryl threw the bowl of potatoes on the counter and it was a sheer miracle that they didn't crash to the floor.

Rick watched as Daryl paced back and forth as waves of anger flowed off him. Rick leaned his back against the counter top and kept on eating. He waited and he waited. Finally he said, "You done?"

Daryl stopped pacing and stared at Rick. He grabbed the bowl off the counter and before he started eating again, he said, "Yep."

"Just because you were out of commission doesn't mean Aaron can't still do the job. He did it with Eric before we came along, so I saw no harm in them going out again. Eric is just filling in. That's all, plus he can't handle the motorcycle as well as you do." Rick waited for the words to penetrate.

"He better not be on my bike," Daryl growled.

Rick just laughed. "Man, that was too easy!"

Once Daryl realized that Rick was just teasing him, he relaxed. "Dick," Daryl said under his breath, but loud enough for Rick to hear. They both laughed.

A knock at the front door caused them to immediately go on alert. Dishware went onto the counter as two sets of boots headed towards the door. Out of habit they each had a hand on their knives. Rick opened the door to find Eric standing there.

"We found people," he said.

"How many?" Rick asked.

"Two men. Aaron has them just inside the front gate."

Without a word Rick and Daryl followed Eric to meet the newcomers. They were both a pretty good judge of character and Rick counted on Daryl to help with the questioning process. They had taken in very few newcomers since Rick had become in charge. Just two people, both found separately.

When they got to the gate, Aaron introduced the men to Rick and Daryl. The taller of the two was Zach and the other was Chris. Nothing set off alarms in Rick or Daryl right away, so they took them back to the house to be interviewed.

Daryl hung back to walk with Aaron. "Doc cleared me, so I'm good," he told him.

"Great," said a relieved Aaron. Eric was his partner, but Daryl was a much better fit for this job. "Let's see what happens with these guys and then we can talk."

They followed Rick into the office he had set up for this. He didn't want to bring strangers into his house like Deanna had done. He wanted to keep his family safe. "Okay guys, tell us about yourselves and why we should let you in."

* * *

The infirmary had kept Dayna surprisingly busy. They were enlarging the compound, so she saw a continuous string of mostly minor, but a few more serious construction injuries. The weather was also turning cooler, so colds kept popping up along with a few minor flu cases.

With work keeping her occupied, Dayna found she tended to miss Daryl more when she was at home or walking down the street or when she saw his motorcycle. He invaded all of her free time as that's when she had the time to think about him, wonder where he was and what he was doing. She hoped he had enjoyed that star gazing night as much as she had. There had not been another opportunity like that again for them, even though Dayna kept trying to find one.

It was the end of the day and Dayna was folding sheets that she had just laundered when she heard voices coming in the door. She walked out of the supply room and saw Rick and Daryl with two strangers. "Hey guys. What's up?"

"Dayna, this is Zach and Chris. They are going to join us here in Alexandra, but they've been outside for a long time so I want Denise to give them a once over. Is she around?" Rick asked.

"Yeah, she's here somewhere. I'll go find her." Dayna turned to go find Denise, but quickly turned back. "Welcome to Alexandria, guys." She flashed them a smile and went off to find Denise.

"Wow, she's hot," smirked Zach. "This place is getting better and better by the minute."

Daryl was up in his face growling before Zach knew what was going on. "Stay away from her or you'll answer to me."

Zach held up his hands. "No problem, man. Just appreciating a beautiful woman. Didn't know she was yours." Daryl didn't break eye contact with Zach. "We cool, man?" Zach asked.

Daryl didn't like Zach talking that way about Dayna, but he respected the fact that no matter how he tried to intimidate him, he held his ground and apologized. "We're cool," he finally said taking a step back.

Seconds later, Dayna returned to the room with Denise and felt the tension in the air. She looked at Rick, then at Daryl. "Is everything alright here?" she asked her eyes staying on Daryl.

"Everything is fine," Rick answered Dayna before turning to Denise. "Got two new guys, Doc…Zach and Chris. They need your evaluation if they are going to stay."

Denise knew exactly what Rick was asking. Not only would she give them a brief physical, but they wouldn't realize that she would also be asking questions to help determine their state of mind. Her training as a psychiatrist was extremely important when assessing new potential residents. "Welcome gentlemen. Come right into this treatment room and Dayna and I will check you out."

The men were ushered into the multi-bed treatment room, while Rick and Daryl waited outside. "So," Rick drawled. "What was that?"

"What was what?" Daryl muttered. He knew exactly what Rick was asking, but he didn't want to talk about it. Leave it to Rick, not to let it go.

"You practically took Zach's head off when he made that comment about Dayna. What's up with that?"

"Didn't like the way he talked about her, that's all," he admitted. "She's not…"

"She's not what, Daryl?" Rick asked. "Hot? Yeah, she is and you know that. Or…were you about to say …available? Because she is and unless you've stopped being stupid about being with her, you got no say in it". Rick knew he pushed Daryl, but he did it on purpose. His friend had to stop being such a dickhead about liking Dayna and doing nothing about it.

"Like you were stupid about Michonne," Daryl threw back at him.

"Exactly. I couldn't see what was right in front of me, until it smacked me right in the face and I haven't regretted it a second. Michonne's an incredible woman," Rick admitted to Daryl. "I did notice that when Zach assumed you and Dayna were together you didn't correct him. He'll figure it out sooner or later, man. Hey, I know you like her and anyone can tell that she likes you, so what's the problem?"

Even though Rick was like a brother to him and did a hell of a better job at it than Merle ever did, Daryl still couldn't open up to him. "It'd never work. Just leave it at that," Daryl said. "She deserves better."

"Says who?" challenged Rick.

"Me." Daryl was about to get really pissed off at Rick.

Rick put his hand on Daryl's shoulder. His voice taking a calmer tone, "Man, I think you are making a huge mistake."

"It's mine to make," Daryl replied.

"That it is my friend…that it is." Rick didn't know what was going on in Daryl's head, but if he wanted to screw it up, who was Rick to say otherwise. He tried, but Daryl was as stubborn as ever.

They hung out waiting for about another twenty minutes when finally the newcomers emerged from the treatment room with Denise. "How are they, Doc?" Rick asked.

"Well besides, some bug bites, a couple deep scratches and some malnutrition they are okay. They'll do just fine, Rick," Denise informed him. As far as she could tell with the short interview, these men were okay. Only time would tell otherwise.

"Okay then," said Rick. "Aaron and Eric will take you to your temporary housing. Take a couple days to relax and get acquainted with everything here. I'll find jobs for you and then we can work on a more permanent place to stay."

While Rick was talking to the men, Daryl went and called Aaron and Eric inside. He wanted them away from Dayna as soon as possible. He knew he was being jealous and he really had no right to be, but he couldn't help it.

Aaron led men away and Rick and Daryl watched them leave. They would both keep a close eye on them for a while until they proved themselves trustworthy, in fact their whole group would.

Dayna emerged from the treatment room and saw that Daryl and Rick were still there. "What do you think guys, will they fit in?"

"We'll keep an eye on them, but I hope so. We could use more younger guys," Rick answered. "I'll catch you both later." Rick quickly left the infirmary purposely to leave Dayna and Daryl alone.

"What's your honest opinion?" Dayna asked Daryl. She knew he'd tell her exactly what he thought.

"Still not as sure as Rick is," he told her. "If they bother you at all, let me know."

"What do you mean? Do I need to be concerned?" Dayna didn't like what Daryl said.

"Naw…but you know how guys can be around someone like you. Just let me know, Okay?"

"Daryl, what are you talking about? Someone like me?" Now Dayna was more confused than nervous.

All Daryl wanted was out of there. He never should have said anything to her. "It's nuthin' , never should have said anything." Daryl finally looked at her and their eyes locked for a moment. "I gotta go, I'll catch ya later," he said and bolted from the room.

Dayna stood there looking confused. "What the hell?" she said.

Denise laughed. "You don't know what's going on do you?"

"Absolutely not."

"I think I do. When you went to get new charts for the men, they were talking and ignoring me. Seems Zach, the taller one, made a comment in front of Daryl and Rick to Chris about how hot you are and….apparently Daryl didn't like it and got all up in his face." Denise saw the look of astonishment come over Dayna face. "Seems like Daryl may be a little jealous," Denise said with a smirk.

Dayna's expression went from confused to excited. "Well that certainly is interesting to know. "Very…very interesting."

Dayna was going to have to think this over. Daryl was jealous of Zach and even though there was nothing between either her and Daryl or even her and Zach, hell she barely remembered what he looked like, this could prove to be very useful. There was no way she would ever play games to get Daryl's attention, but if he was jealous then he still must feel something for her. Now she just had to get him to admit it and that may prove to the hard part, but she was willing to keep on trying.


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months and months turned to into spring and still nothing had progressed with Dayna and Daryl. They were still friends that talked when they saw each other, but neither specifically sought the other out. Dayna felt like she should give up on Daryl, but her heart wouldn't let her. She had never felt like this for anyone before and she didn't want to lose that. She had lost too much already.

Spring had come early to the area and Dayna was enjoying the late afternoon sun on the front steps. She had her legs stretched out in front and was leaning back on her elbows with the sun beating down on her face. The warmth felt so good after the cold winter.

"I see you're taking advantage of the warm day," a voice said.

Dayna opened her eyes and saw Zach at the end of the front walk. "How could I not? It's a beautiful day," she replied with a gentle smile. Dayna didn't know Zach well, but he was always nice and friendly to her.

Zach moved closer to her and started up a conversation on how lucky he and Chris were to be part of the community. He shared a few of their experiences prior to Aaron finding them and Dayna added a few of her own. She found him personable and had a good time talking with him.

"Do you mind if I sit down?" he asked after a while.

"Sure, go right ahead, "Dayna told him scooting over a bit.

Zach soon had her laughing at some of his and Chris's escapades. It seems they met each other about a year ago and traveled together ever since. They had formed a strong friendship both through necessity and the fact that they just got along well together.

Dayna had asked Zach about his life prior to the change that threw everyone into this new world. While listening to him she got a whiff of cigarette smoke. She casually turned to her right while slightly leaning back and she was able to see part of the front porch of the main house next door. Daryl was standing there smoking and staring right at her. Their eyes met and she gave him a little smile, but his hardened expression never changed. Dayna looked away first and turned her attention back to Zach who didn't realize they were being watched.

Their conversation went on for a little while longer and Dayna realized that she enjoyed his company. Zach was fun to talk with and while he was a good looking guy, he would only be a friend. She leaned back once more and saw that Daryl was still there. " _Damn him_ ," she thought.

"Well I've talked your ear off enough, Dayna," Zach said standing up. "Maybe we could do this again sometime?"

"Sure, I enjoyed talking with you," she told him.

"Great," he said with a smile that would probably bring any other woman to her knees. He turned to go, and then turned back. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"You and Daryl… aren't a thing are you? I mean I don't ever see you with him, but I got the distinct impression early on that you two were…umm together." Zach had wanted to ask Dayna this for a long time, but it never seemed like the right time to ask.

"No, Daryl and I aren't together," she told him. It hurt her to say that, but she didn't let it show.

"Okay…okay," he said happily. Zach then turned his head and saw Daryl staring at him from the other house a cigarette hanging out of his mouth and a sneer on his face. "Well, you may want to tell him that." Zach quickly left leaving Dayna rolling her eyes.

"Daryl get your ass over here," she called out not even bothering to look over at him. Dayna waited patiently until Daryl finally stood in front of her. He had taken his sweet time walking the short distance between the neighboring houses. "So?"

"So what?" Daryl looked at Dayna and his stomach dropped like it usually did when he saw her. He took a final drag in his cigarette before dropping it to the ground and stepping on it. He looked back up and she was still staring at him.

"What is it with you and Zach?" she asked him. When Daryl didn't answer she looked him right in the eyes and silently challenged him.

"Don't like him," he finally said.

"I haven't heard anyone else having and problems with him or…is it because you don't like him talking to me?" Dayna was not going to play games, she wanted the truth from him. Daryl's face took on a harder look and Dayna knew she nailed the reason and it pissed her off. He could not have it both ways and if he still didn't want a relationships with her, he had no say in who she talked to or dated. It was none of his business.

"Don't trust him…around you" he admitted finally breaking eye contact with her.

While his unnecessary possessiveness pissed her off, it also warmed her heart. "Come here and sit next to me." When he didn't move she added "Please."

Daryl sat next to Dayna on the wooden front steps and stared at his callused hands. How could he tell her that even though he couldn't be with her, that it killed him that someone else may be. He wasn't being fair to her, but he be damned if Zach was the guy.

Everyone liked Zach except Daryl. He constantly heard what a great guy he was, that he was always filling to help anyone with anything and do any that was asked of him. He was tall and good looking and Daryl didn't like the way that Dayna smiled when she talked to him. He felt that Zach was everything that he wasn't.

"Daryl, Zach hasn't done anything improper towards me… ever. He's been nothing but a gentleman, so why don't you trust him? Is there something I should know?" Dayna placed a gentle hand on his knee. "What is it?"

Dayna had no idea how hard this was for him. He wanted what he couldn't have and he wanted no one else to have it too. It wasn't right, it wasn't fair and it certainly made no sense, but then again nothing did these days. It was just how he felt.

"It's me, "he started to say. "I just don't want…you shouldn't be…oh, fuck it." He hung his head. He couldn't get the words to come out right and not sound crazy.

Dayna knew what he was trying to say. He didn't want her with someone else. It confused her, but touched her at the same time. She should give him hell, but instead went another route.

"Daryl, I appreciate you looking out for me. I really do. I get why you did what you did and to be perfectly honest I probably would do the same…but we can't. I can't have you giving Zach or any other guy I talk that I'm-gonna-kill-you-look that you perfected. It's not fair." A sheepish look came across Daryl's face. "See you know what I'm talking about," she laughed. "But for the record, I'm not interested in Zach as anything but a friend. Okay?"

"You may want to tell him that," Daryl muttered.

"Funny he said the same thing about you." Dayna leaned over and kissed him on his scruffy cheek. "You're still my favorite," she whispered before getting up and going into the house leaving Daryl sitting on the steps alone.

He desperately wanted to follow her, but just couldn't. Daryl stayed on the stoop for a while deep in thought. He never acknowledged the people that passed by or called out to him. He wanted Dayna more today than he did last week or even last month. He was constantly thinking about her and on more than one occasion it almost got him in serious trouble on the outside. The more he tried to stay away, the more he needed to see her.

He knew she never saw him watching her. He was good at staying hidden and observing. The word stalker flew through his head and he blew it off. " _I'm no fuckin' stalker_ ," he said to himself. _" I ain't lookin' in her window or following her everywhere she goes, just sometimes to make sure she's safe and so I can see her._ " He played his words over in his head a few times. " _Damn,_ _I'm a fuckin' stalker_ ," he sadly admitted.

He got up off the steps and walked out to the sidewalk and started the short walk back to his house. He met Rick coming from the opposite direction.

"What's up?" asked Rick.

"I'm a stalker," Daryl replied.

"Happens to the best of us, man. Wanna celebrate with a beer?" Rick suggested.

Daryl raised his eyebrows and looked at him. "We got beer you haven't told me 'bout?"

"Naw, wishful thinking."

Daryl just shook his head. "Man, you are fuckin' crazy."

"You just realized that now?" Rick laughed. "At least I'm not stalking a woman I claim not to want."

They started to walk up the steps to the porch. "Hell, guess we're all on the crazy train," Daryl said. Rick laughed and patted his friend on the back. Daryl had it bad for Dayna and Rick thought it was a good thing for them both, but Daryl just needed to finally do something about it. " _He wasn't just crazy_ ," Rick thought as Daryl made his way upstairs. He was too stubborn for his own good and that had to change or he'd risk losing Dayna forever.

* * *

 **NOTE:** I hope everyone is liking Restless. I'd love to hear what you think about it.


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

With the warmer weather upon them, the people of Alexandria were spending more time outside. It almost represented the old way of life, until you looked closer. Children still played in yards, individuals walked the streets to go to their assigned jobs or to visit, yet now everyone carried a gun and or a knife wherever they went. The multiple guard towers around the compound were reinforced and staffed around the clock.

Maggie and her team, which now included Chris, had increased the garden size so they could produce more food for the growing population. The garden had been being worked on daily to first get the soil ready and now for the planting of the seasonal crops.

Dayna and Rosita were walking down the street chatting as each was heading to their job for the day. Dayna was going to the infirmary and Rosita had guard tower duty. They took a roundabout route so to enjoy the beautiful day.

Their course took them by the large garden area in which several people were hard at work already. Dayna waved to several and called out a hello to Chris who was the closest to them. He looked up and saw them and with a big smile came across his face walked over to the girls wiping his dirty hands on his pants.

"Good morning Dayna," he said, then turning to Rosita, "Good morning, Rosita. You look lovely today."

"Thanks," she simply replied. Rosita didn't know how to take Chris. He was always very nice to her and went out of his way to say hello when their paths crossed. What would she do with a nice guy from the country? She was a city girl. Even though he was good looking, she didn't think she was ready for another relationship after the heartbreak she had recently gone through. Then again, Chris was completely different than the brash outspoken Abraham.

Dayna instantly noticed that Chris's expression softened when he spoke to Rosita. He was interested in her without a doubt, but Dayna didn't know what Rosita thought about that. She needed a guy as nice as Chris in her life. This was something that she was going to have to talk to her friend about as this would put Abraham firmly in Rosita's past and Rosita needed that.

"What are you working on?" Dayna asked.

Chris immediately started telling them on how they had spent time prepping the soil for the planting, that they had early crops already in, and were looking to plant tomatoes, squash and cucumbers that week. His enthusiasm for the garden made Dayna smile. She elbowed Rosita, who looked slightly bored.

"Look at me babbling on, when you ladies probably have some place to go," Chris said apologetically. "Stop by anytime you want to get bored. I'm here all day, every day."

"We weren't bored in the least, were we Rosita?" Dayna smiled at her friend.

Surprisingly Rosita said, "Not at all, it was nice talking to you Chris."

They left Chris so he could go back to his planting and they continued on towards the main gate where Rosita was working that day.

"So….Chris is a nice guy, don't you think?" asked Dayna with a smirk.

"Yes, but I can see the wheels spinning in that brain of yours and no I'm not interested," Rosita told her firmly.

"But he is. I could tell. Give him a chance, get to know him better. He seems like a great guy."

Rosita stopped and put her hand on her hip and cocked her head. "Just like Zach is also a nice guy and I know he's interested in you, but you're still waiting for Daryl to get his head out of his ass. So you're one to talk."

"Yeah well I never said I was a good example to follow." They both looked at each other and burst out laughing. "We are a sad pair aren't we?" Dayna giggled. "I'm going to take my pitiful ass off to work. Stay safe Rosita."

"You too," she replied. They hugged before they went their separate ways.

During Dayna's short walk she kept trying to come up with ideas to get Chris and Rosita together. They were kind of opposites as Chris had grown up on a farm in western South Carolina and Rosita was from a more urban area in Texas, but many time opposites attracted. " _Hell, look at me and Daryl. Can't get more opposite than that_ ," she thought to herself. By the time she was walking in the door to work, she didn't have a solution, but she did have a mission. Rosita needed Chris whether she knew it yet or not.

* * *

A couple of days passed by and Dayna accidently met Zach on her way back from the food pantry. "Haven't seen you in a while," said Zach. He automatically took the basket out of her hands to carry it for her.

"Been busy. Denise and I started to make house calls on the people that are sick, and are better off staying at home then walking down to the infirmary. Only did a few, but the people appreciate it. And thank you for taking the basket, but you didn't have to," she told him. Zach was always a gentleman. It was too bad she only felt a friendship towards him and not anything else. He was a good looking guy and most of the single ladies drooled over him with his sandy brown hair and green eyes, but not Dayna.

"I'm always available to help a pretty lady," he said with a smile. "Was over at the infirmary this morning and didn't see you."

"You okay?" Dayna asked as they continued down the street.

"Yeah one of the guys at the job site needed stitches so I brought him over. Denise took care of him, but missed seeing you there." Zach was trying not to come on too strong. He liked Dayna, but he wasn't sure how she felt and he didn't want to scare her off.

"She let me have the afternoon off, so I did a little bit of shopping. So…the expansion is almost done I was told." Dayna could tell that he was flirting with her and she didn't want to hurt him, so she turned the conversation back to a safe topic…the expansion.

Zach was still talking about what yet had to be done by the time they got to Dayna's house. "I can bring this inside for you if you want?" he volunteered hanging onto her grocery basket.

"That's okay, Zach. I can take it," she told him reaching for it. "But I do have a question for you."

"Sure what is it?"

Dayna took a deep breath, "I could be completely wrong about this, but do you think Chris likes Rosita? I sorta got that impression the other day and she could use a guy like him."

Zach thought for a moment. "I don't know. He hasn't said anything, but now that I think of it, he does perk up when she's around, but I don't think she gives him the time of day."

"She's a tough nut to crack, plus she recently went through bad breakup. If he has patience, she'll be worth it."

"Good to know." Zach turned to leave, but changed his mind. "Hey …would you want to go for a walk with me later?"

"I'm sorry, I can't. Dinner at the main house tonight. Carol's cooking up our share of the meat that Daryl brought back from his hunt. But thanks." Dayna hated turning him, down he was really a nice guy.

"Maybe another night?" he asked hopefully.

"Sure. Maybe," she told him. "Thanks for helping me." Dayna gave him a smile and walked inside without looking back. " _My God, why did you say that_?" she berated herself. " _The last thing you want to do is encourage him and that's exactly what you did. Next time just say no_."

Dayna brought the basket into the kitchen and unpacked what she had picked at the pantry. She was going to make a side dish to contribute to the meal. She started pulling out pots to cook with and got started on her dish.

Maggie came downstairs and stopped in to say hello to Dayna. "What you smiling about?" she asked.

"Nothing really, just looking forward to dinner tonight with everyone." Maggie started to laugh. "What's so funny?" Dayna wanted to know.

"You are. Dinner with the whole family is always fun, but that's not why your smiling?" Maggie told her.

"Of course that's the reason."

"Part of it, maybe," Maggie admitted, "but Daryl will be there and I bet that's what has the smile on your face." Maggie crossed her arms and waited for Dayna to deny it.

Dayna kept her attention on her cooking. "Well….no…I mean it'll be nice to see everyone, not just Daryl." Great, stumbling over her words made her look even guiltier than if she just said it.

Maggie just kept looking at her not saying a word. Dayna looked up and saw that Maggie wasn't buying it. "Fine. Yes, I'm looking forward to seeing that pain-in-the-ass, grumpy, messed up man." The corner of Dayna's mouth lifted in a half smile. "God he's hot."

The two of them burst out laughing. "Yeah, you got it bad…still," Maggie said once she stopped laughing. "Are you two ever going to get together or what?"

"Ask Daryl. He's the one holding back, not me. I just don't really get it," Dayna sighed.

"I hope it works out for you, but…"

"But what?" Dayna asked.

"Daryl? Our Daryl?" Maggie asked with a grin.

"Yeah, believe it or not…Daryl. The heart wants what the heart wants and my heart has to want a guy that likes me, but refuses to do anything about it. Just my luck." Dayna shook her head in frustration. She stirred the pot in front of her one more time and turned off the stove.

Maggie came around the counter and gave her a hug. "You'll figure it out. I know you will," she whispered in her ear. They broke apart and Maggie saw tears shining in Dayna's eyes. "If there is anything I can do to help, just let me know. Okay?"

Dayna simply nodded while wiping her eyes.

"I'll see you at dinner," Maggie told her and turned to leave.

"Thanks Mags," Dayna called out. "See ya there."

Dayna finished her vegetable dish she was making and started on a large batch of cornbread. Since it was coming from a couple boxes of cornbread mix, she was going to doctor it the best she could to bring out the flavor. It was soon in the oven to bake and Dayna took the timer upstairs with her so she could figure out what to wear. Her wardrobe wasn't vast, but at least she some choices. Now she had to figure out what Daryl may like and wear that.

* * *

 **Bonus Chapter today - Enjoy!**


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

Daryl was leaning against his bedroom wall and looking out the window when he saw Dayna walking down the sidewalk headed to the house. It looked like she was carrying dishes in both of her hands. He briefly thought of running down the stairs to help her, but realized that would be so out of character for him. He didn't want people questioning his motives. Daryl didn't want people knowing that he was obsessed with Dayna hence that was one the reasons he was staring outside. He was barely admitting that to himself.

If he hadn't been hiding out in his room, he most likely would have been sitting on the front porch and could have been able to help her. Instead here he was wallowing in his misery by himself. He knew he was his own worst enemy and not having her in his life was entirely his fault. Every time he'd convince himself that he was being stupid and that he should go find Dayna and tell her he was sorry that he was being such a dick, he'd chicken out before she saw him. The endless repetition of " _You're a worthless piece of shit! You ain't never gonna amount to anything,_ " played in his head over and over again. And unfortunately he still believed it, even though he knew he wasn't the man he used to be. Man, was he so messed up.

Suddenly a memory flashed in front of him that took him by surprise. It was after they lost the prison and he and Beth were at the rundown shack in the woods buzzing on the moonshine they had found. It was night as they sat on that rickety old porch talking. She got him to open up, like he had never done before. He remembered she told him "Stay who you are, not who you were. Places like this, you have to put it away….or it kills you." He was still trying to put it away…maybe now he should. Beth wanted him to. She would want him to find happiness finally in his life and he was getting tired of being miserable all the time.

Fuck it.

He didn't want to care anymore about the voice in his head that told him he was worthless. He wanted to take that next step….he had to and he had to do it now. Daryl put on a clean shirt, combed his hair for the first time in days and headed downstairs to join everyone for dinner in a new frame of mind. He felt better like a weight was taken off his shoulders by just remembering what Beth had told him. She had been wiser than her seventeen years.

Dayna was in the kitchen holding a stack of plates when Daryl came down the stairs. She immediately noticed something was different about him. It wasn't the fact that he had on a clean shirt with sleeves or that he wasn't wearing his leather vest or even that his hair was combed for a change, it was his face. The tension was gone, the sternness his expression always was replaced with a softer look. He almost had a smile. Whoa!

Daryl walked over to Dayna who still stood routed to her spot wondering what was going on with him. "Hi," he said softly with a grin.

"Hi to you too," Dayna replied still wondering what was going on. Then he did something that completely shocked her. He kissed her…right there in the kitchen with Maggie and Carol watching.

It was a short, brief but wonderfully unexpected kiss that had her speechless and tingling all over. Dayna still stood there in absolute amazement still clutching the plates.

Daryl whispered into her ear, "Sit with me tonight, and walked off.

Carol nudged Maggie, "You better grab those plates quick before she drops them."

Laughing Maggie went over to Dayna and took the dinner plates she had clasped to her chest away from her and put them down on the counter. Dayna finally looked wide-eyed at Carol then Maggie. "Did that just happen or did I imagine it?"

Carol gave her a big smile. "That just happened and it's about damn time too."

Dayna put her trembling fingers to her lips. "That was Daryl, right?" she asked.

Maggie walked over to her and put her hands on Dayna's shoulder. "If I hadn't witnessed it, I would never have believed it. He was smiling and Daryl never smiles and he kissed you in front of us. But, yeah it sure looked like him, but then again there could have been an alien invasion that we don't know about," Maggie joked. "What did he whisper to you?"

Carol came over, as she wanted to hear Dayna's answer too. "He asked me to sit with him tonight. I need to go find him and see what's going on."

Carol literally pushed her out of the kitchen and Dayna left the room slightly dazed searching for Daryl. She called out behind her, "We want details!"

Dayna looked in the living room and only saw Rick and Michonne talking on the couch. They turned to her and said hello. "Did you see…" she started to ask, but Rick answered before she even finished asking the question.

"He's outside on the porch."

"Thanks," she answered and walked outside before her nerves took over.

Daryl was leaning on the railing smoking a cigarette. His heart was beating a mile a minute after kissing Dayna. He had never done anything like that before, especially in front of people that he cared about. He had finally grown some balls when it came to Dayna.

The front door closed softly behind him and he stiffened in anticipation. Dayna laid her hand on his shoulder and Daryl turned his head slowly not knowing what to expect. When he saw her smile, he instantly relaxed. "Hey," she said.

"Hey," he replied back his voice low and gravely.

"Have we had a change of heart?" Dayna asked. She was trying not to show him how nervous she was. She had gotten her hopes up several times before only to have them smashed soon after. Was this for real this time?

"I'm finally listening to it instead of my head," he told her. "And a memory of an old friend, helped me see what I should have done months ago. Are we okay?"

Dayna leaned on the railing next to Daryl and put her head on his shoulder. "We are very okay." She stayed there for a moment before lifting her head and looking into his deep blue eyes. "You know how long I've wanted this, but we can't just jump into something, unless we both understand what is going on and I don't. After dinner we can talk?"

"Yeah, we can as long you ain't gonna kick my ass to the curb," he said with a smirk.

"Not a chance of that," she told him with a devastating smile that rocked him.

Daryl couldn't help it he needed to taste her lips again, so he leaned towards her and Dayna met him halfway. It was a gentle kiss that held potential for more, but this wasn't the place for more. Too many people and too little privacy for Daryl to feel comfortable with anything but a teasing heartfelt kiss.

They heard people coming so they broke apart. It was still so new that they didn't want to share it with anyone. Glenn and Eugene walked up the steps and said hello on their way inside. Dayna and Daryl just stayed there for a few moments their arms touching as they rested on the railing, both lost in their own thoughts of each other.

Daryl couldn't stop thinking of kissing her. He always enjoyed kissing, but it was more of a means to an end. What started with a kiss, usually ended up with sex and that was all he had cared about. This was so different. He felt things he had never experiences before and wanted to taste her lips and mouth over and over again. This was all completely new to him and this dinner couldn't be over fast enough.

Dayna was still in shock over the sudden change in Daryl. What caused it and why? Would it last? She desperately wanted to believe it would and had prayed for this to happen practically since they first met over six months ago. He had that crazy of an impact on her, but first she needed to what was going on in his head and that would come after dinner.

"We should go inside," Dayna suggested as she saw Tara, Denise and Rosita approaching the house.

" 'kay," was all Daryl said. They both turned to go inside and Dayna felt the pressure of his hand on her back. It was that proprietary touch that guys liked to do and she loved it.

"I'm going to go see if the girls need any help," she said giving his hand a squeeze.

Daryl simply nodded to her and squeezed her hand back in return. He felt instantly empty as she walked away towards the kitchen. It was the strangest thing he had ever felt. In a short few minutes his life had changed drastically and for once it was for the better. He joined the guys hanging out in the living room.

When Dayna entered the kitchen all conversation stopped. She had never seen all of the women in here together. Typically Michonne, Rosita and a few others stayed clear as cooking was not their strong suit, but tonight there they all were and all eyes were on her.

Dayna looked from one to another and no one said anything. "What's going on?" she asked.

"That's what we all are waiting to find out from you," answered Sasha. "So….?"

Even during a crazy time like this where their lives were in jeopardy every day, only women would still want to gossip about someone else's love life. Maybe she'd keep them guessing.

"So when's dinner ready?" she asked innocently and after a moment of silence they all burst out laughing.

"No dinner for you," Carol said pointing a serving swoon at Dayna, "Until you tell us what's going on with you and Daryl."

"When was the last time you saw me in the kitchen?" laughed Michonne. "That's how bad I want to hear this."

"Me too," added Rosita.

"Us too!" said Tara and Denise at the same time.

Dayna looked around the room and saw it filled with close friends, make that close nosy friends. She wasn't ready to share when she was still unsure of everything herself, but she would give them a little. "Alright, but there isn't much to tell…yet," she started. "I'm as surprised as any of you. Carol and Maggie saw me standing here stunned. He kissed me…twice and I don't know what to make of it. I've been down this road before with him and it didn't end well, but we're talking after dinner."

"Wait, he's kissed you before?" asked a surprised Michonne. "Where have I been?"

"It happened a while ago and didn't work out…so why say anything," Dayna replied. "Just like you and Rick…that was a surprise for a lot of us, right girls?" Dayna wanted to get the attention off her and Rick and Michonne's recent hook up was a topic they all loved to talk about…without Michonne around that was.

"So is it dinner time yet?" Michonne asked blatantly changing the subject.

"Yes, it is. I don't want the venison to overcook. Fresh meat is so hard to come by. We'll have everything out in five minutes, so those of you that don't know how to cook, get the hell out of my kitchen," Carol told them all and at least half the girls left quickly. Dayna and Sasha stayed to help Carol and Maggie and they soon had food ready to serve all over the center island if the kitchen. It took a lot of food to feed fourteen people.

Everyone made themselves a plate and found seating wherever they could in the living room. Daryl usually took the window seat on the far side if the room, but tonight he grabbed a spot on the floor and Dayna joined him.

Conversations flew across the room, jokes were told and people were teased. They were one big crazy family that Dayna felt blessed to have. Meeting Daryl had changed her life in more than one way and she would be forever grateful to him.

After dinner they all hung out for while enjoying each other's company. Dayna noticed Rosita and Sasha talking quietly in the kitchen. Dayna didn't remember ever seeing that before due to Abraham. She glanced over to him and even though he was talking with Glenn and Eugene, his eyes kept darting towards the kitchen. " _Serves him right_ ," she thought.

Shortly later people started to say good night and everyone headed towards their houses or rooms. Tara called out to Daryl that she's see him in the morning and Dayna heard him say "Fuck," under his breath. She didn't know what that was all about. Then Carl went upstairs to check on Judith, leaving just Rick, Michonne, Daryl and Dayna as the last ones around. Dayna was the only one that didn't live in that house.

"You ready?" Daryl asked Dayna.

She was both looking forward to this and dreading it at the same time. "Yeah, I am. Night guys," she said to the other couple and she and Daryl left the house. Neither said anything as they started the short trip to Dayna's house next door. "We need a quiet place to talk," she finally said.

"Yeah…what about that area we watched the stars that night?" Daryl suggested.

Dayna thought for a second. "Okay, that's a good idea." She stopped in front of her house and put her hand on Daryl's arm. "Let me run inside and get a blanket and a jacket. I'll be right back."

Dayna went to leave, but stopped and turned back to Daryl. She pressed a quick kiss on his lips, before running into the house. She took the stairs two at a time and was in her room in a flash. Dayna walked over to the mirror on the wall and smiled at her reflection. All was good…actually all was freaking fantastic!

All she had to do was get through this talk with Daryl and they'd be finally moving forward together and not stagnating. Knowing that Daryl was still waiting for her outside, Dayna quickly grabbed a blanket off the end of her bed and put on a light jacket. She practically skipped down the stairs knowing the man she loved was waiting for her.


	34. Chapter 34

Daryl took the blanket out of Dayna's hands and spread it out on the grass. It was a cloudless night with twinkling stars and a half moon shining above them. Dayna sat down first and then Daryl lay down on his back. He bent up a knee and put his right hand behind his head and looked at Dayna. He still couldn't believe that a woman as hot as she was wanted to be with him. He was finally accepting it, but still had a hard time believing it.

Dayna stretched out on her right side so she was facing Daryl. "I had fun last time we were out here looking at stars," she said breaking the silence.

"Me too," he answered.

"Okay," Dayna started to say. "From the very start of us, you know I wanted this…you and me together. And three times Daryl…three times we started and you stopped. I can't get hurt again like that, it's not fair to me, so why now? Why did you suddenly change your mind about us?" Dayna laid all of her worries out to him. She wanted this more than anything, but he couldn't keep hurting her. That just wasn't right.

Daryl thought for a minute. Dayna had every right to ask him why it was different this time. Would she understand that he's trying to handle this like a man for the first time and not an abused kid? He didn't think he was ready to tell her about that yet and then there was Beth.

He took his left hand and threaded his fingers through hers. It was a simply move that most people did all the time. He watched Maggie and Glenn and now even Rick and Michonne have their hands this way, but it was something he had never done before. He looked up from where he had been staring at their joined hands and saw love written all over her face. At least that's what he thought it was as he had never experience it before and it threw him for a moment until he spoke.

"I know I've been a dick… an asshole… a douchebag about us and believe me I've called myself worse, but I don't want to do that anymore. I want you and I'm tired of fighting myself about it even though a still don't understand why you want a guy like me. I'm a nobody that comes with a lot of baggage that you couldn't come close to understanding."

"Try me," Dayna said softly.

"You really deserve better," was all he could say.

"You keep saying that. Don't I deserve what I want? Shouldn't I be the one to decide if a man is good enough for me or not?" she told him. "Do you think I'm smart?"

"Hell yeah."

"Then why do you think I'm not smart enough to know what I want?" she asked. "I want you. I have from the beginning, no one else just you."

Daryl didn't respond right away. This was a lot for him to take in. He absently rubbed her hand with the pad of his thumb as he thought this through. She did deserve to have whomever she wanted and she wanted him. That thought was very sobering. She wanted him, this educated smart beautiful woman wanted him a redneck from the mountains of Georgia. " _Go with it Daryl_ ," he told himself. " _She stuck with you after all these months that you treated her like shit. That's gotta mean sumthin', don't it_?"

"I've never known nobody like you before, it's hard for me to think that this can happen, but I'm gonna let it. I want you and I want this to work, no more changing my dumbass mind," he told her. "Come 'ere."

Daryl let go of Dayna's hand and she moved over and laid her head on his broad shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her and they cuddled that way for a longtime, just easily enjoying being with each other. Dayna turned her head to look up at Daryl and he smiled down at her. He rarely smiled and it was a wonderful thing to see.

He leaned down wanting to kiss her…needing to taste her…to claim her. Dayna eagerly returned the kiss. They started out gentle and inquisitive, learning about each other, then lips parted and tongues clashed and the kiss went from hot to blazing.

Dayna's fingers explored Daryl's face before undoing several buttons on his shirt so she could slip her hand inside and touch his chest. She felt his hard muscles and sprinkling of chest hair as she caressed him. Meanwhile Daryl's hand roamed up and down Dayna's back before landing on her firm butt.

The kisses continued until both were panting for breath. Desire overwhelmed them, but this was not the place to take it any further. Dayna laid her head once again on his shoulder letting her hand trace patterned on his chest while they wait for their breathing and pulses to slow.

"Maybe we should go back to my room?" Dayna suggested nipping at his ear. "It's getting late."

She felt Daryl tense at her words and she sat up. "What's wrong?"

Daryl put the palm of his right hand to his forehead. Fuck, the timing of this sucked. He sat up and Dayna noticed his face had gone hard again and that scared her.

"Daryl you're scaring me," she told him. " _No! No!_ " she thought to herself, " _this can't be happening again_."

"Fuck, no Dayna it's nothing like that. Heath and Tara leave on a two week supply run first thing tomorrow."

"I don't understand what that has to do with us." Dayna found herself completely confused. Why was he thinking of Heath and Tara now of all times. That made no sense.

"Because I'm going with them. When I volunteered to go I had no idea that this…we would happen. I have to go…but I don't want to. I want to stay here with you, but sun up's in like five or six hours and I have to go with them. I'm sorry." Daryl had volunteered to be the third on the run to get away from Dayna and his out of control feelings for her. He never imagined it could backfire on him this badly.

Dayna let out a huge sigh of relief. "Okay, now I understand. The timing really, really sucks with this," Dayna laughed. "But as long as I know you're coming back to me, we'll finish this up then. I've waited too long to for us to have it rushed. Plus, you need your sleep. If you're tired you may get careless and I'm not patching you up again. Twice was enough." Dayna stood up and put her hand out for Daryl to grab. "Let's go."

Daryl was not happy that they had to put a hold on their night, but he knew Dayna was right. He did need to get to sleep. He couldn't afford to be tired and sloppy when he went beyond the walls. That could prove deadly. Daryl reluctantly stood up and picked the blanket up off the ground. He tucked it under his arm and took Dayna's hand in his.

Together they walked slowly back to the houses, neither wanting the night to end, but knowing it had to. They stood on the sidewalk outside Dayna's house, the night absolutely quiet except the beating of their hearts. Daryl leaned forward so his forehead rested against Dayna's.

"Come back as soon as you can," she whispered. "I'll miss you."

Expressing his emotions and words of love were foreign to Daryl. He didn't know how to say what he was feeling so instead he wrapped his arms around Dayna in a strong embrace. Her arms immediately went around him.

"Miss you too," he quietly told her. "I fuckin' hate leaving you."

"Me too, but they need you. You can't leave them short-handed that wouldn't be fair." Dayna removed her head from Daryl's shoulder and smiled up at him. "I'll be here waiting for you to get back. I promise you."

Daryl felt a happiness soar through him that he felt only around Dayna. She made him feel like anything was possible, that he actually amounted to something. He wasn't the loser nobody he had always been told he was. He responded with the first thing he could think of...he kissed her again.

Dayna melted against his chest as Daryl's lips took control of her. She never remembered wanting a guy as bad as she did him and now they would have to wait. The kiss started to get heavier…hotter and Dayna knew this wasn't the time, so she pulled away. "Daryl, we can't."

He knew she was right, but he didn't have to like it. Daryl's response was to growl in his frustration and walk in circles trying to regain his composure. "Okay…two weeks. Two long-ass fucking weeks and I'll be back." Daryl then turned quickly and got right up into Dayna's face. "We continue right where we left off," he said with a sly smile.

"Oh hell yeah," Dayna laughed. She gave him a final quick kiss and headed up the stairs and inside before she changed her mind. This was going to be the longest two weeks of her life, but if it meant having Daryl in her life it was worth it. She had already waited seven months what was another few weeks.

Daryl stood outside the house for a minute waiting to see the light in Dayna's room come on. When it did he knew she was safe inside. He was a protector at heart and he needed to make sure that she was secure in her room. Her silhouette appeared in the window and she waved goodbye to him before dropping the curtain back in place.

As he headed to the house next door and his room, he light a cigarette to help calm down. He still couldn't believe how his life changed so quickly today. He had finally done something right in his life. He sat down on the steps of his house while he finished his smoke. It was sad to think that his life was actually a lot better now, than it was before the turn.

Back then he had nothing, was nothing and did nothing. He was as white trash as they came. Now people counted on him, he had responsibilities that he lived up to and he more than pulled his weight here. He liked that Rick trusted him and his judgement and that while no one had anything anymore, he was no longer a nobody. He was an important part of this community, even though at times it made him feel claustrophobic. The man he had become just got himself the hottest, most beautiful woman he had ever known. He never would have been this lucky back in Georgia. Life was good.


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35**

Twelve days. " _Twelve long fuckin' days_ ," thought Daryl as he stared out the window of the van. New leaves were on the trees and the quiet landscape was starting to fill with color. Spring was a season of growth and change and Daryl was a changed man.

He had pushed Heath and Tara hard so they accomplished as much as they could in a shorter time frame. Now they were headed back two days early and the van barely had room to move in. It was completely filled with anything they could get their hands on that Alexandria needed. Food was top on the list and took up much of the van. They also had medical supplies, toiletries, weapons and other assorted items. They had surprisingly good luck in finding what they needed, so Heath and Tara didn't complain that much when Daryl had them searching longer and working harder than usual.

They were getting really close to Alexandria. Daryl felt a small smile start as he thought of Dayna waiting for him. She'd be surprised at their early arrival, and Daryl was going crazy not seeing her. She was in his head all the time. It was strange and unnerving, yet wonderful at the same time. It took him forty years to find her and he was as nervous as a boy going on his first date.

To look at him no one would know the crazy emotions going on inside of him. He had long ago learned to internalize everything and his face always had that stern formidable look on it. He knew he scared the people of Alexandria that didn't know him, but he didn't care. Every now and then during this trip he'd realize that smirk or small smile would happen when he thought of Dayna. Heath even asked him once if he was okay as that was so out of character for him. Daryl just grunted to him to mind his own business while Tara laughed.

Tara knew what was most likely going on and she was happy for Daryl. She wasn't close to him as she was too many of the others, he was mainly a loner and it was hard to get to know him. Tara had picked up on the sadness that had always radiated from Daryl and had felt bad for him. Now with Dayna hopefully in his life he could find the happiness everyone deserved. She had found it with Denise.

"Comin' up to the gate," Heath called out.

Daryl realized he had been chewing on his thumbnail again. He was excited to see Dayna, yet he was anxious about it at the same time. He prayed the time he was gone hadn't changed anything between them.

Heath flashed the headlights of the car and it took only a minute for the gate to open up allowing them inside. Daryl sat up straighter in his seat as he scanned everything inside. It all looked the same, which hopefully meant nothing bad had happened while they were gone.

"Where do we want to unload first?" Heath asked.

"Infirmary," Daryl told him. He had purposefully loaded the medical supplies on top so that they would have to go their first and that got him to Dayna even faster. They had four boxes to bring in and the second the car stopped Daryl popped out and opened the back doors. He grabbed two boxes and was on the way inside with them before the others were out of the car after the long ride.

Heath looked at Daryl's back as he entered the building's door and shook his head. "What's up with him?" he asked Tara.

Tara laughed at them both. Heath didn't have a clue. "Daryl has it bad for Dayna. Why do you think he pushed us to get done so fast?"

"Really?" Heath said surprised. "Is Dayna aware? Are they like together?"

"Yes and yes," Tara answered him while grabbing a box to bring in. She was just as excited to see Denise again. "It happened just before we left. C'mon let's get this in so we can finish unloading."

Daryl practically burst through the door and called out for Dayna the second he was inside. No one answered him. "Dayna? Denise?" he bellowed again and finally heard a distant "Coming!" from somewhere inside.

Denise was drying her hands when she came around the corner and saw Daryl. "You're back?" she smiled. "Where's Tara?"

"Hopefully getting the rest of this shit. Where you want it?" he asked.

"Over there on the counter is fine."

Daryl quickly put the boxes down and turned to Denise. "Where's Dayna?"

"She's doing a couple of house calls. Should be back in a half hour or so," she told him.

Tara and Heath brought in the remaining two boxes and the two men walked outside leaving the ladies to reunite. Daryl saw Rick and Carl heading towards them and waited for them to arrive.

"Welcome back," said Rick. "How'd it go?"

"Good. Couldn't fit 'nuther thing in there. Just unloaded the medical stuff," Daryl answered.

Rick walked around the van to peer in the back. It was indeed jammed full of everything under the sun. They did really good, better than normal. Rick was sure that Daryl's presence on the trip helped. He had an uncanny ability with this type of stuff. He turned back to the group and noticed Daryl looking up and down the street. Rick smiled to himself. He knew Daryl was looking for Dayna. It was good to see his friend getting involved with someone. Daryl had never shown interested in anyone in all the time they spent together until Dayna came around. Rick was happy for them both.

"Alright," Rick said starting to take charge as usual. "Heath, you and Tara drive down to the pantry and Carl and I will meet you there to help unload. Daryl why don't you go get Carol so she can help Olivia organize all this stuff. "

"Got it," Tara and Heath both said and they got back into the van and slowly took off.

Daryl started walk away to go get Carol, but Rick called out to him first so he turned his attention back to him. "While you're at the house, you may want to take advantage of the shower and clean up before you see her," Rick said with a grin. "Carl can do your unloading."

"Thanks. Already planned on it." Daryl took off at a jog, his pack and crossbow had already been retrieved out of the van before it headed over to the pantry.

Rick and Carl watched him vanish down the street. "Hey Dad, how did I get volunteered for this?" Carl asked as they headed down the street.

"Because, your old man is a sucker for young love and I get the feeling that Daryl needs all the help he can get. Plus, after not showering for two weeks, he needed one bad," Rick laughed.

"You're right about that shower," Carl smirked. "I don't get it - Daryl and Dayna? How did that happen?"

Rick put his arm around his teenage son's shoulders. "One of the great mysteries of this world, Carl. I can't explain it myself." Together the father and son duo headed down the street to help unpack the van. Carl secretly hoped Daryl had found some more comics for him and this also gave him more time to spend with his Dad.

Daryl burst into the house calling out for Carol at the same time. "I'm upstairs," she called out and Daryl took the stairs two at a time. Carol was waiting for him at the top.

"Is everything okay?" She asked hm.

"Yeah. Rick wants you to help out Olivia with the supplies we brought back." Daryl turned away from her and started heading to his room.

"Daryl…Daryl!" Carol called out.

He stopped and took a deep breath before turning around. "What?"

"It's good to have you back," she told him. "And take a shower before you see Dayna, you stink."

"That's what I'm trying to do, but people keep bothering me," he said in a huff and went into his room slamming the door.

Carol was having a good laugh as she headed down the stairs. "I'm going to have to thank Dayna. Daryl finally has a reason to shower! Thank you God!"

Daryl locked the door behind him and started taking off his clothes and dropping them anywhere they fell. Naked he headed into the bathroom and turned on the shower. He stepped under the hot water and just stood there for a moment. It felt good going over his tired muscles. The soap soon had the dirt and sweat washed away, but he stayed under the hot stream.

He was back and he and Dayna could pick up where they left off. At some point that night he expected to be with her in a bed – hers or his didn't matter, he just needed her. Imagining what she looked like naked and under him, soon had his dick standing at attention. Seemed it did that a lot more lately than it ever did. There was only one way to finish this so he took his dick in his hand, imagined Dayna writhing under him as he pounded into her and soon he was coming in the shower with the water washing anyway the evidence.

His hand had been his best friend these past two years and that was going to change tonight. The thought of having sex was a huge turn on for him, he was guy after all. However, he knew this was going to be different as he actually cared about Dayna. She wasn't a faceless body under him. He had fucked his fair share of women before, but that's all they were a fuck. Dayna was not going to be that and he figured he had some learning to do.

He quickly dried himself off and even towel dried his hair, before searching for something clean to wear. He found a clean pair of black work pants with patched knees and a shirt that was more gray than black. He buttoned it up and flexed in front of the mirror he rarely used. " _Not bad for a guy in his forties_ ," he thought. " _Shit when did I get that old_?"

This was not the time for him to deal with shit like getting older. He quickly brushed his hair so it was somewhat controlled and just before he raced out of the room, he stopped. He needed one more thing he remembered and it brought a smile to his face. He went over to his pack that was thrown on his bed and rummaged through it. He pulled out the box on condoms he had found during his supply run. In fact he had found several boxes that didn't make their way in with the rest of the stuff they found. He kept these for himself. He opened the box and put a couple in his back pocket.

Now it was time to find Dayna.


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36**

Dayna had finished her house calls and on her way back, she decided to stop at the house first to pick up a snack. She had missed lunch and her stomach was growling. She ate a little bit of some leftover casserole, before heading back to the infirmary. On her way out of the house she met Zach. He was reclining on the railing of the porch. He gave her a big smile when he saw her. This was unexpected.

"Hey," Dayna said. What's up?" She hadn't seen Zach in a couple weeks and she wondered why he was waiting on the porch.

"I saw you go in and thought I'd catch you on your way back out."

"How did you know I was coming back out?" she asked. It made her uncomfortable that he knew what she was doing.

"You usually work till five or so, so I hoped you'd be going back. I wanted to know if we could take that walk tonight. It should be nice clear night to see the stars," he asked with a devastating smile that didn't affect her at all. .

" _Shit_ ," Dayna said to herself. " _I hate telling a guy no_." She hesitated trying to come up with the best way to tell him about Daryl.

"Well…" she started to say, but Zach grabbed her hands and pulled her towards him surprising her so all of a sudden she was up against his chest.

"Expect more of this tonight," he said softly as he leaned down and kissed her. Dayna was so shocked that she let him kiss her for a few moments until she pulled back gently and put a hand on his chest.

"No, Zach we can't. I'm involved with someone…with Daryl. I'm sorry," she explained still in Zach's arms.

"I thought you and him weren't a thing?" Zach asked confused.

"When you and I last talked, we weren't but, that changed. I'm sorry," she said stepping out of his embrace.

"I'm sorry too. Daryl is one lucky man," Zach said sadly. "Good luck to you both."

"No hard feelings?" she asked.

"No, we're good. Thanks Dayna." Before Zach left Dayna thanked him again for understanding and gave him a kiss goodbye on the cheek. Zach was halfway down the steps when Dayna heard a roar of a motorcycle. Only Daryl rode a motorcycle here and no one would ever dare to touch his bike.

Dayna looked over and saw Rick staring at her from his front porch, not looking very happy. Daryl shot out from between the two houses on his motorcycle without even a glance in her direction. He sped towards the front gate and was soon out of sight. She heard him yell in the distance, "Open the fucking' gate!"

She stood there openmouthed confused on what had just happened. When did he get back? Why didn't he come to see her and why did he just leave? Dayna looked over to Rick, who still had a scowl on his face. "Rick, what's going on?" she called over.

"What's going on?" he spewed venomously. "You and Zach looked pretty damn cozy, that's what's going on. How could you do that to him?"

"Oh no!" Dayna exclaimed. "That wasn't it looked like. Ask Zach! Let me explain!"

Dayna ran over to Rick and he brought her inside to talk. Rick was furious at her for hurting his friend. He didn't dare say anything yet, as he knew wouldn't be very civil to her. He was going to let her explain first.

"There is nothing between Zach and me. There never was nor will be. Oh God, Daryl saw us didn't he? Oh God, Oh God! " Dayna cried. Before she completely lost it, Dayna knew that she had to make Rick understand. "Zach liked me, but I never encouraged him. He didn't know about Daryl and me since we happened so fast then Daryl was gone. Zach wanted me to go on a walk with him tonight. Before I could turn him down, he kissed me. I swear Rick I didn't kiss him back! He completely took me off guard and I tried to let him down easy. He's a nice guy, so I didn't want to hurt him," she babbled. Finally taking a deep breath, Dayna continued, "Ask Zach. Go find him. I know he'll tell you the same story, Rick. I love Daryl and would never do anything to hurt him. I waited over six months for him to get his head out of his ass about us, so why would I screw it up now? Oh God, Rick where did he go?"

Rick sat quiet for a moment, he tended to believe her. She had hurt written all over her face. He was about to say something when he heard his name called. Both he and Dayna turned and saw Michonne standing there. Neither heard her enter the room. "She's telling the truth Rick," Michonne said. "I know it."

"How?" was all he said.

Michonne sat down next to Dayna on the sofa. "First, all she could talk about was Daryl coming back from the supply run and how much she was looking forward to it. That wasn't a woman looking for another guy. Second, I heard it from Zach."

"He told you this?" Rick asked.

"Not directly. I overheard him telling Chris what happened and that he was sorry that it wasn't going to work out with Dayna. That she had let him down gently after he kissed her and that Daryl was one lucky son of a bitch." Rick knew he trusted Michonne explicitly and she would never lie to him. Dayna was telling the truth, even though the visual of what happened made it look completely different.

"Do you believe me now, Rick?" Dayna asked with tears in her eyes.

"Yeah, I do, but Daryl doesn't."

"When did he get back?" Dayna wanted to know.

"Just a little while ago. They finished up the run early and he was anxious to get back." Rick leaned in towards Dayna and said seriously "He even showered."

All was quiet in the room for just a moment and then they all burst out laughing. Michonne was the first to speak. "You know he's serious when he showers for you."

"Damn straight," Dayna smiled. "But seriously Rick, where could he have gone? I need to explain what he saw, wasn't what he thinks. I feel so bad as I know this is all my fault."

"I don't know where he went. He was coming out of the house and I was going in. We heard voices and looked over and saw you and Zach. He didn't say a word he just stared at you, then he vaulted over the railing to his bike and shot out of here." Rick realized that Daryl didn't even have his crossbow with him or even a gun. He was sure he'd have a knife on his belt as they never went anywhere without one, but Daryl hadn't planned on leaving the community so he didn't have anything else with him. " _Be safe, brother_ ," he thought.

"I'll ask the guards if they noticed which way he went and when he gets back to see me right away," he could see Dayna was about to argue. "Listen, he's too pissed off to see you. Me, he'll come to and I can explain it to him. Then I'll send him to you," Rick told her.

"I hate to get you involved in my mess, but thank you Rick."

"Go home and wait, that's all you can do at this point. He'll come back…eventually."

"I have to see Denise first, but after that I'll be at home. Get me as soon as you know anything, Okay?" she begged him.

"Will do."

Dayna stood up and hugged Rick and then Michonne who she also whispered "Thanks" into her ear. Then she slowly walked out of the house wondering how everything could have gotten so screwed up in such a short time. Zach had the worst timing ever!

In a daze she walked over to the infirmary and let Denise know the status of the patients she saw. She was so caught up with Tara being back, that neither Denise nor Tara realized how sad she was. Dayna left without saying goodbye and soon found herself in her room curled up in a ball on her bed. The tears that had threatened earlier now flowed freely. If she could just talk to Daryl, she could explain everything and if he didn't believe her, Michonne would help, so would Rick. If only she knew where he was…Daryl where did you go?


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37**

The day turned to night and there was still no sign of Daryl. Dayna lay on top of her bed curled up in a ball trying to figure out what to do. If she could only see him, she would make him understand. He had to. She didn't like to think of him alone outside the walls. The dangers were too numerous to count and she worried that in his current state of mind he could get careless.

" _Where the hell are you Daryl_?" she thought for the hundredth time. Then it came to her. Why hadn't she thought of it before? Of course he had to be there, he had to have gone to that green house that they stayed in before. That was his place to go. She had been so busy stressing about what happened that the obvious never occurred to her.

It was too late at night and too dangerous for her to attempt to get to the house now, but she had an idea. She ran into the bathroom, washed her face and that made her feel a whole lot better. She grabbed a light jacket and literally ran out of her room, down the stairs and out of the house. The guard tower over on Baggerly was the closest one to the green house that she could think of, so that's where she headed.

When she got close to the platform, Dayna called out a greeting in order to alert the sentry that she was there. Sasha answered her.

"Oh Thank God it's you Sash, can I come up?"

"Sure." Sasha waited until Dayna made it up the ladder. What's up?"

"I've made such a mess of things with Daryl," Dayna said and then told Sasha the whole story of what happened. "I think I know where he went and I'm hoping to confirm it. Remember that house we all stayed in when the wall was down, I think he's there. I just don't know where else he could have gone, but I know he uses that house so I'm hoping that's where he is.

"Got it. What a mess this ended up as. What are you looking to do from here?" Sasha asked her.

"I know we could see the wall from the house. I could look out the bedroom window and see it. Now I'm hoping to do the opposite, I'm looking for any sign that he could be there. I'd go there if I could, but being out beyond the walls at this time of night isn't safe, so I'm hoping he has a candle lit or something. Will you help me look?" Sasha was a close friend of hers and they clicked right from the start. That Sasha was working up here tonight was finally something going right for her.

"Of course I'll help. Let's get our bearings on what's where first," Sasha said.

Together they figured out the position of where the house should be. Everything there was dark…pitch black dark. "I don't see anything," Dayna said sadly. "I was so sure he's have a candle or two lit to see. He has to be there."

"Well just because we don't see the light doesn't mean he isn't there. He could just be sitting in the dark or maybe asleep?" Sasha suggested.

"No he isn't asleep. He's be pacing back and forth and cursing me, he wouldn't sleep. Damn it!" Dayna was frustrated. Could nothing go right to help her fix this mess? "Well I think I'll go there tomorrow anyway. It's the only place I can think of."

"Maybe he'll come back by then?" Sasha offered.

"I hope so. If you see him, please let me know right away. I need to straighten this out as soon as I can, Okay?"

"Sure. Count on it," Sasha told her. The two friends hugged and something caught Sasha's eye. "Dayna look!"

There through the house was a dim light that wasn't there before. It was in the exact spot of where the old green house stood. Dayna had found Daryl. "Oh my God, that's him. I know it!" she exclaimed. "He's safe. Thank God!"

Dayna thanked Sasha for her help and headed back to the house. Once again back in her room, she lay down on the bed and tried to go to sleep, but her brain wouldn't turn off. She thought over and over again what she could say to get him to understand. As long as she could get him to calm down and listen to her, she stood a chance. Dayna final drifted off to sleep with the early calls of the birds in the distance.

The sun was fully up and the morning half gone by the time Dayna woke up. Once her brain kicked in, she sat up quickly in bed to see what time it was. It was after ten o'clock in the morning. "Damn it!" she exclaimed jumping out of bed. "I never sleep this late!"

She ran to the shower and within minutes was under the hot steaming water. A quick wash and shampoo later, Dayna was wrapped in a towel figuring out what to wear. " _What good to wear for an apology_?' she thought. " _What'll get his attention? He's a guy so tight and cleavage will always work_." She looked through the closet at her meager wardrobe. There was a day when her clothes filled multiple closets and then some. Now, it didn't fill even half.

Dayna pulled out her tightest jeans and a shirt he seemed to like in the past as it hugged her curves and she could unbutton it just enough to make it enticing. Rosita said he kept staring at her when she wore it last, so that solved that. She had no problem using her assets to get him back.

Once she was dressed she blew dry her hair, which was something she once took for granted and was surprised that she could do it here in Alexandria. The solar power was a godsend. Dayna applied a small amount of makeup, just to enhance her eyes and she was ready to find Daryl. Her knife was already on her belt and she was going to the armory to get a gun to take with her. Daryl had promised to teach her how to use one, but that never happened, so Rosita had been her teacher. Subsequently, Dayna had become a very good shot.

On her way out of the house she reminded herself that she wanted to stop by big house it make sure he hadn't come back during the night when she had been asleep. There was no sign if his motorcycled so that was doubtful. As she was walking up the steps, she met Rick coming out the door. He had Daryl's crossbow in his hand.

"He's back?" she asked.

"No," Rick said concerned.

"Then why do you have his crossbow?" Dayna wondered. Then it hit her. "He forgot to take it with him, didn't he?"

"Yep," answered Rick. "Any idea where he is?"

"Last night he was at the house that he uses, I saw a dim light coming from a window. I'm going to head there now. Can I take the crossbow to him?" Dayna couldn't believe that he left without the crossbow. He never went anywhere without. If anything had happened to him it would be her fault and she would never have forgiven herself.

"That's why I was bringing it out, I was hoping you'd have figured out where he was," Rick told her. "He needs you, he's stubborn so he'll probably fight it, but he needs you in his life. Go fix this."

"That's what I'm planning on doing right now. Wish me luck… I need it." Dayna took the crossbow from Rick and put the strap over her shoulders like Daryl did. It was heavier than she expected. A quick goodbye to Rick and she was headed the armory.

It didn't take her long to pick up a gun and extra ammunition. It paid to be prepared for anything once she ventured beyond the walls. As the gate clicked closed behind her, Dayna's nerves started to take hold. It wasn't often she went out alone and that in itself was nerve wracking, but she also knew that it wasn't going to be easy dealing with Daryl. He knew he wouldn't take betrayal well, even though that had never happened.

Dayna took off at a jog weaving between cars, piles of junk and trying to stay out of the way of the wayward walkers. She was out of breath when she reached the green house. Daryl's bike was parked outside, so she knew she had found him. She took a deep breath before knocking on the door. Daryl probably knew she was already outside, but she didn't dare just walk in. She waited and waited, then knocked again.

"C'mon Daryl, I know your inside, let me in please," she called out.

"Not a good idea," Dayna heard come from the other side of the door.

She leaned up against the door, knowing he was just in the other side. "Daryl, please open the door. We need to talk, I can explain everything." He didn't answer her. "Please Daryl."

"No," he growled.

"I know you hate me, but it wasn't what you think you saw. I can explain." She hesitated for a moment. "Rick believes me."

Daryl was furious on the other side of the door. She had balls coming here to try to lie to him. He knew what he saw… her kissing another guy when she thought he wasn't around. Here he thought he wasn't good enough for her and she was nothing but a cheating tramp. Then she said, "Rick believes me" and it gave him a brief second of hope. "You probably lied to him too."

"I didn't Daryl, I had someone back up my explanation. Someone that that he trusted."

Daryl remained quiet behind the door. He was thinking. What if she was telling the truth, that she could explain everything? She'd have to know that he could easily confirm with Rick what she said so lying now wouldn't help her at all.

Dayna looked around her and noticed that her voice was attracting walkers. There were about six headed in her direction. "Daryl, I got walkers coming at me. Please open the door!"

He could hear the tension in her voice jump up a notch. As mad as he was, he would never put her life in jeopardy. Fuck it he had to let her in.

Quickly he moved the small sofa that blocked the door and pulled her inside. He slammed it shut and threw the deadbolt, just as the walkers hit the door. Together they pushed the sofa against it as an extra precaution.

Daryl then turned and looked at Dayna. His eyes were hard and cold. "That's my crossbow, give it over," he demanded.

"Rick sent it," Dayna said quietly as she lifted the heavy crossbow off her and gave it to Daryl. The anger that he towards her radiated off him in and it scared her.

The sound of the walker's moans was distracting and unnerving. Dayna asked if they could talk upstairs away from the walkers. That was the last place he wanted to go with her, near the bedrooms, but he knew she was right. Daryl simply walked upstairs without acknowledging her.

" _Oh my God, he's so furious_ ," she thought as she followed him up. They walked into the bedroom they had once shared as platonic friends and the memories assaulted her. This is where they first got to know each other.

Daryl was fully aware of what was going through her head as the same memories had gone through his multiple times since he got there. "Talk," he growled.


	38. Chapter 38

"Talk," he growled walking away from her. Daryl kept his back to her. He was too angry at her to watch her lie to him.

"Okay, I know what you saw and it looked really bad, I mean Rick confirmed that it clearly looked like I was making out with Zach, but Daryl I wasn't. I really wasn't. I know you don't believe me, but please listen to what really happened." She could tell he wasn't buying it at all. "Okay, I went home after my house calls to grab a quick bite to eat. Mrs. Caldwell was lonely so she was chatty and it took me longer than it should have. When I came out of the house to head back to the infirmary Zach was waiting for me. I honestly didn't know why. I hadn't seen him in weeks. He said he was waiting for me." Dayna took a breath before she continued.

"Why?" drawled Daryl.

"I had no idea so I asked him. He said he wanted to ask if I wanted to take a walk with him later that night. He said it was going to be a clear night so the stars would be out and that reminded me of you. Instead of answering him, I was thinking of you and our nights under the stars and I think he took that as a yes because I started to smile and he pulled me towards him and kissed me," Dayna said trying to explain but she could see he still was angry.

He whipped around and faced her, "So you're telling me that prick kissed you knowing you were with me? Does he know I will kill him?" Daryl said in a steely voice.

"That's it, he didn't know."

"Why the fuck not?" Daryl exclaimed raising his voice. "You ashamed?"

Dayna rolled her eyes at him, "Of course not! No one knows, except our friends. How could they? You left right away on the supply run. Did you expect me to shout it in the streets? Our friends knew and that was most important, the rest of them would have found out when they saw us together. I had no reason to tell Zach. Daryl, I never thought he'd ask me out."

"I knew he was looking at you. Every fuckin' time he saw you he got a hard on for ya and I wanted to kill him, but you weren't mine so I had no claim," Daryl practically shouted.

"No you didn't have 'a claim' on me, but now you do and I would never do anything to jeopardize that. I gotta finish this so you know everything that happened. Back to the kiss…"

"Fuckin' kiss," Daryl muttered.

"It completely took me by surprise. I froze for a few seconds not knowing what to do, but I never kissed him back. I swear it. That's when I put my hand on his chest and pushed back. He's a nice guy, Daryl and I knew I was going to hurt him, so I wanted to be gentle," Dayna tried to explain. It wasn't going as well as she had hoped. She looked at Daryl and his hardened expression hadn't softened at all.

"That's when I told him about you and about us. It surprised him, but he took it okay. He said you were a lucky man and wished us well. I thanked him for being so nice about it and I gave him a goodbye kiss on the cheek. Then he left. That's the God's honest truth Daryl. This was just one huge misunderstanding. I swear. Please tell me that you believe me." She wasn't sure what she said had made a difference or not. He still looked as mad as when she first saw him, but didn't he even believe her a little? Dayna sat down on the bed frustrated and sad.

Dayna realized that she had never given him any reason not to trust her and that got her mad. He wasn't being fair to her. She stood up right away and got in Daryl's face. "I waited months and months for you. Three times you got my hopes up and three times you smashed them, yet I still waited for you to realize that we should be together. Why the hell would I risk that? Why would I risk losing the best thing that happened to me in two fucking years! And piss off the most dangerous man I know. I didn't do anything wrong, Daryl!" Now he was pissing her off. Stubborn idiot! Dayna walked to the other side of the room and looked out the window.

" _It certainly was a plausible story or was it just a really good lie_ ," Daryl thought. He paced the small room not looking at Dayna. He wanted to believe her, but he had no reason to. Except she did wait for him and he was the one to put the brakes on each time. She could have gone to Zach at any time, so why would she go now?

Daryl walked to the window and stood behind Dayna. "Who convinced Rick that you aren't lying?"

Finally.

Dayna turned and looked Daryl right in the eye and gave him the one name he would most assuredly believe, "Michonne."

Daryl's eyebrows raised in surprise. That was the one name he didn't expect her to say. Michonne didn't know her well and her loyalty would run to him first, not Dayna. She wouldn't lie to protect Dayna, but she would tell the truth to help him. Dayna was telling the truth. That made him feel so much better, but he didn't let her see that. His mind was already made up.

"I believe you," he said flatly.

Dayna's eyes got wide and a huge smile appeared. "You do? You really do? Oh thank God! I'm so sorry this happened Daryl. I'll never be nice to another guy again!" She was so happy that she threw her arms around him to celebrate. She didn't see the small grin he had from her comment about not being nice again, but he quickly made it vanish.

She realized he was stiff in her arms and he didn't return the hug. Dayna let him go and stepped back a bit and saw his face. "You may believe me, but something isn't right. What's going on?"

"Sit down," he told her.

Dayna instantly knew there was a problem and it wasn't going to be good. She slowly sat next to him. "Daryl?"

Daryl looked at the floor, he couldn't look at Dayna and see her sad eyes again. "Maybe this happened for a reason. We have no business being together, it ain't gonna work."

Dayna jumped up from the bed. "Oh no! You are not going to do this yet again! There is no good reason why we can't be together. You've always hinted at reasons, but never gave me anything to believe." Fire flew from Dayna's eyes as she stood in front of him, his head still bowed down. "Look at me Daryl! Give me one good goddamn reason why you, not me, you choose not to be with me. I thought all this nonsense was behind us!"

"You deserve a guy like Zach…not like me."

"What the hell is wrong with you! What is so bad that about you that we shouldn't be together? Tell me. Tell me now because I sure as hell don't see it!" she yelled at him. Why was he doing this again? Dayna thought this stupid argument was long settled. Why was he bringing it up again?

Daryl was angry at his life, at his past and angry at Dayna. He hated that she was making him admit his failure. He stood up slowly and looked directly at her. "Because I'm a loser! A nobody! Before all of this I didn't have a job, just followed Merle around doing whatever he wanted be it legal or not. I'm a worthless son of a bitch that never amounted to anything! You have a college degree! I have nothing…I am nothing….I will always be nothing!" he shouted at her.

Dayna stood there stunned. He really believed he was nothing. How could he not see how incredible he was? Who the hell had damaged him this badly?

"Daryl?" she said softly. "You are not nothing, in fact you are far from nothing. I don't care what you did before this shit happened to all of us. I. Don't. Care. Do you understand that?" She put a hand on his arm to steady him. Dayna could feel his body trembling under her touch.

He shook her off and walked to the other side of the room. "How can you say that? You don't know anything about me before…no one does. You had the perfect little life growing up I bet… the lovin' parents, food on the table and the white fuckin' picket fence. Me? I had a mother so stupid she burned down the house with her in it, Merle spent most of his time in juvie leaving me home with my fuckin' old man who was either out of his mind drunk or …or…" Daryl couldn't finish. He was too embarrassed to tell her that his father beat the living shit out of him all the time when he wasn't telling him how worthless he was.

Dayna suspected he had a terrible childhood, she saw the same symptoms in him as she did the abused kids in the ER. Everything suddenly click her for and it all made horrible sense. "It was your father that told you that you were nothing, wasn't it? I bet he did it over and over again, taking his anger on his life out on you. A kid. How old were you Daryl?"

He didn't answer her. He just stared out the window.

"How old, Daryl?" she asked more forcefully.

Daryl turned and looked at her, his eyes were narrow angry slits and his hands were clenched into fists. Dayna took a step back. "It's all I remember. You're a worthless piece of shit kid! You're never going to amount to anything kid! You're a loser like your mother and brother! Get out of my fucking sight kid! I don't even know if he knew my name. It was always kid or loser or asshole. But it didn't stop there…No…he." Daryl couldn't continue so Dayna did it for him.

"He's the one that beat you so bad it left the scars, didn't he?" Dayna once again touched him gently. He needed to know that she was there for him…that she cared.

Daryl's eyes widened in surprise, " _How did she know_?" he thought. He always kept his back covered so that no one would see. How did she know?

Dayna knew that she had guessed right. It was his father and that she figured it out surprised him. "I saw your back after you got shot. No one has the right to do that to another person, but a parent? That your father did this to a defenseless child is unconscionable. It was so wrong, but Daryl it wasn't your fault. This was your sick father's fault. You are not to blame."

She wrapped her arms around him and held on tight to him. Eventually Dayna felt his arms come up and hold her. They just stood there together hanging onto each other. Daryl had never told a living soul about any of this. Not even his brother had known the extent of the abuse. Now the woman he cared more about than anyone else in the world knew. She knew his shame and she didn't blame him. She didn't pity him, she just supported him. He knew he could never let her go.

Daryl finally stepped out of her embrace. "Are you sure you can handle a guy this screwed up? Look how old I am and I still can't let it go," he asked her.

"And I bet you've never told anyone either. You've kept this bottled up inside so that it's been eating away at you for years. Together, you can heal. I will help you. I promise." Dayna stood up on her toes and placed a gentle kiss to his lips. She felt him relax.

"Are you sure, Dayna? This is a lot of shit to take on…all this fuckin' baggage I have," he asked her. He had to be sure that she was up to his moods and everything that came with his mess up life.

"Of course I can. Can you deal with mine?" she asked softly. He wasn't the only one that had secrets.

"Can't be any worse than mine. You're too normal, me I've always knew I was different," he said.

"Maybe not worse…similar and yet different." This was going to be hard for her, but she knew she had to do it. She sat down on the bed, pulling Daryl next to her. "Ask me the questions."

"What are you talking about?" Daryl said confused.

"You never asked me the three questions everyone gets asked, why?"

"Shit, I don't know. Guess I forgot. I don't need to do that now," he replied. What was up with this he wondered?

"Please, just ask me," she asked.

Daryl thought this was stupid, but he asked anyway. "How many walkers have you killed?"

"Dozens," she said.

"How many people have you killed?"

"One." Dayna's stomach started to roll as she knew what came next.

"Why?"

She looked Daryl right in the eye, and then closed hers. "Because he raped me and was going to kill me."

Daryl didn't say anything as he sat there in stunned silence. Dayna… his Dayna was raped? Some fuckin' prick forced himself on her? All he wanted to do was kill someone right that very second. "When?" was all he could get out.

"About a year or so ago. He was part of the group I was with. We were in a house scavenging and I walked past an open bedroom door and he pulled me in. First he beat me with his fists, which made it harder to fight back. I was half conscious when he ripped my pants off …and…and raped me." Dayna hesitated a moment to fight back the tears that threatened to fall. "My…my head was spinning so bad I could barely focus. Afterwards, I heard him pacing in the hall talking to himself. He said he would tell everyone a walker got me, that I had to die. It was bad enough he raped me, but I was damned if he was going to kill me too. My pack was still on the floor, so I quietly got up and grabbed the knife that was in it. He was acting crazy and while he was talking about weird stuff about me, yet he barely knew I was there. So when he turned his back I put the knife into the base of his skull." That she had killed a man always weighed on her, but she knew that she didn't have a choice if she wanted to live.

It had been a while since she thought about the attack in detail. She felt the tears streaming down her face as Daryl tilted her chin up to look at him. "You are an amazing woman," he told her. "I never would have guessed that you had been through anything like that. You're so sure of yourself, so …normal." He hesitated for a moment. "Does it bother you when I touch you?"

"No, it doesn't bother me, in fact it's the opposite. I feel safe with you, always have. Right from that first second I met you on that deserted road, I know you were a safe place for me. I had a lot of time to deal with this in my head. I think of him as a monster, just like the walkers. He was a sick man and I know not all men are like that and that let me to move forward and not be afraid all the time. It allows me to want you." Dayna exhaled deeply the weight of her attack wasn't as heavy anymore.

Daryl pulled her into a deep strong hug. This woman, this incredible woman was stronger than he ever was. His abuse was years ago, hers was recently and she handled her life so much better than he did. She could teach him how to cope with it. She had already taught him so much as it was. "I'm sorry you had to go through something like that," he whispered to her.

"I'm sorry you had to too," she whispered back. "I love you Daryl."

Daryl could not believe what she just said. No one had ever loved him before, not even his family. He didn't think he could love anyone, but with Dayna he knew he could. "I love you too," he said softly.

* * *

Thank you! Thank you! The amount of page reads in the last few days has been incredible!. You guys are the best!


	39. Chapter 39

**Chapter 39**

 **This** **is the start of why this story rated M. If you are under 18, this is not for you.**

Daryl's life changed the instant Dayna said she loved him. He knew they shared an unexplainable bond between them that just did not come from their attraction to each other, but it came from deep inside. They had been drawn together from the start and no matter how hard he tried to forget her, he was always drawn back. She affected him like no one else ever did or ever would. He found the woman he never imagined existed.

Dayna looked up at Daryl and smiled as he pressed his lips to hers. His hands came up to cup her face and he eventually pulled back from the kiss. "What are you smiling about?" he laughed.

"You…us…everything! I am just so happy!" she told him. Her huge grin slowly changed to a look that had his heart racing and his palms sweating. "This is the first time that we've been really all alone."

Dayna raises a hand to move Daryl's bangs out of his eyes, and the light touch of her fingertips on his skin caused his pulse to race.

Daryl's fingertips reach out and skimmed her cheek. His solemn eyes held her captive, were now a deep dark blue. "Are you sure?"

"More sure than I've been of anything in my life," she told him. Dayna pulled him to her and their mouths met again this time in total surrender. Their hunger intensified, promising only to increase with each taste.

Daryl sought to memorize every inch his mouth could touch. His onslaught made her dizzy; the intensity almost frightening. What areas of her face that his lips missed his fingers didn't. His fingertips traced the outline of her jaw, and then ran softly over her lips. Dayna took his index finger into her mouth and caressed it with her tongue, hinting at promises to come. Daryl's bold lips found themselves drawn back to Dayna's soft pliant ones. He became more demanding, more forceful as his tongue invaded her mouth and took control.

When he suddenly took his mouth from hers to ravage the cord of her neck, Dayna felt her body overcome with a heat. His teeth brought tiny ripples of pain to blend with the pleasure. Never had desire been so quick, so all-consuming for her.

Daryl had never had a physical desire so strong and so quick for a woman before. Sure it had been years since he had sex and never with anyone he gave a damn about, so he was afraid he'd be clumsy and fast. He wanted this time, this first time with Dayna to be special, but what did he know about loving a woman? He could fuck 'em, but Dayna was different and therefor he wanted this to be perfect.

His desire to touch her was overwhelming. He could only get out one word, "Bed."

They separated only for the few seconds it took to move onto the matress, and then their mouths eagerly sought the other's. Gently he moved his hand to explore more of her. She welcomed his touch, but was startled by the sparks of electricity that followed the path of his fingers all over her body. His hand rested briefly on her flat stomach before it moved under her shirt and he felt her soft skin.

Daryl moved his hand up higher and gently touched the soft curve of her breast with his fingertips. He enjoyed the feel of her under his touch. The anticipation was killing Dayna. She wanted to tell him how much she wanted, no needed him to touch her and where, so she responded by deepening her kiss. Daryl understood instantly.

He now moved his hand to cover her breast and kneaded it lovingly. Still possessing her mouth, Daryl absorbed the low moan from Dayna as he took her nipple between his two fingers and brought it to a peak. "Like that?" he murmured.

"Unbelievably," she managed to say. The sensations overtaking her body were indescribable. No one had ever made her feel this way before by just touching her.

No one.

Dayna ran her hands over his back, but instantly decided the shirt had to go. In her haste, her fingers fumbled with the buttons on it, until Daryl quickly sat up and pulled it off over his head, tossing it to the side. Dayna took advantage of their broken contact and buttoned hers and slipped out of it. Daryl threw it off the bed.

His eyes turned such a dark deep blue that they almost seemed black as he took her all in. Her rounded breasts were encased in a black lace bra that begged to be removed. Daryl knew that Dayna was one hundred percent his, yet he was so nervous about each step they took. He didn't want to be that fumbling teenager, yet that's what it felt like. He could do fast and quick, with half his clothes still on, but this was meant to be slow and unforgettable.

He kissed her deeply again and Dayna ran her fingers through his long hair. Now his hand cupped her right breast, squeezing it first gently then with more pressure. Dayna moaned deeply under his touch. He massaged her for minutes thrilling at how she felt in his hand, and then he gently slipped his fingers under the fabric of the bra and cupped her breast. His palm skimmed over her erect nipple and knew he had to taste it.

Daryl reached his hand behind Dayna's back to unhook her bra. Dayna lifted a little to help him. She could feel his touch was a bit tentative and she loved that he was nervous...so was she. Once she felt the bra unhook, she reached up and pulled the straps from her shoulders and pulled her breasts free.

Daryl moaned deeply at the sight of her breasts. They were perfect and the pert nipples demanded to be kissed. He moved his body to cover hers to gain better access to her breasts. The erection Dayna had felt growing against her leg was now rock hard. She loved that she had that effect on him.

His mouth trailed warm kisses from her face, to her neck, across her shoulder and finally onto her breast. Dayna arched her back as he took her nipple between his teeth. There was a very thin line between pleasure and pain and Dayna was riding it. His touch, his mouth was nothing but pure ecstasy for her. She tangled her fingers in his hair, she held him to her not wanting him to stop. He suckled her like a child.

"Oh God Daryl," she moaned.

Daryl didn't respond, he did not want to remove his mouth from her breast, but did so only briefly to so not to neglect the other one. He licked, he bit and he squeezed her breast while feeling Dayna squirm under him. Then something caught his eye and he realized that Dayna was massaging her right breast herself. The intense desire he had for her just skyrocketed and he hadn't thought that was possible. The rest of their clothes had to go.

He brought his lips back to hers and murmured, "Pants…off…now."

"Oh God yes," she moaned.

Daryl rolled off of Dayna in order to get his pants off as soon as possible immediately feeling a huge sense of loss. He quickly undid his belt, unzipped his pants and tried to push them off but his boots got in the way. "Fucking boots," he groaned as he sat up to unlace them. .

Dayna laughed at him. She already had one boot off and was working on the second. She heard one thud and then eventually another as Daryl tossed his work boots across the room. He was fully naked before she was, then again Dayna had planned on taking her time getting her pants off just to tease him a little.

Daryl had lain down on his side next to Dayna and was watching her intently. He wasn't used to being fully naked with his dick rock hard in full daylight, but as strange as it felt, it also felt normal to be this way with her. He watched Dayna finally take off her second boot and drop it off the bed. " _What the fuck is taking her so long_?" he wondered.

He then watched her slowly slide to the end of the bed and stand up facing him. Then little by little she lowered her zipper. When it was down, she leisurely shimmied out of her jeans. He watched them come off her hips, slide down her long legs and finally flew out of sight. Daryl put his hand to his mouth to see if he was drooling. Luckily he wasn't. Then it finally hit him what she was doing. "You little tease," he said with a grin. "No fuckin' wonder I have hard on ready to explode."

Dayna looked over at him and gave him a sexy smile. It certainly didn't get by her that he was well endowed. Now she only wore pink panties and she turned her back to him. Slowly, very slowly she slid them off her hips, down her ass and at last onto the floor. There was that perfect ass that had already cost him a dislocated shoulder. Just when he thought he couldn't take it anymore she turned around. He had never seen anything more beautiful in his whole life…and she was his.

With the grace of a cat, she slid in next to him so they were face to face.

"Tease," he whispered into her ear as his mouth started to devour her.

Dayna arched her neck encouraging him and his lips left a fiery trail all over. Her hand explored his hard chest, making its way onto his back, skimming over the scars she felt. She remember that at some point she wanted to get a better look at his tattoos and find out what they meant, but not now. Now was for more intimate pursuits.

Daryl's hand palmed her breast again, and he felt Dayna moan in pleasure. He tweaked her nipple before moving on to the smooth skin of her back. Such a contradiction to his own it was. He found the rounded curves of her butt and squeezed her cheek. Dayna did the same to him, but her arm touched the head of his penis and she didn't move it for a moment. Then ever so slowly her fingers traveled across his butt cheeks, over his hip and down in front of him.

Gently she took his shaft in her hand and slowly explored, before wrapping her fingers around it and started a rhythmic pumping of it up and down. He was putt y in her hands. Daryl couldn't remember the last time a woman touched his dick. He could feel the start of an orgasm already starting to build, but it was too soon and definitely not this way. He was not going to come in her hand their first time together. No fucking way.

He reached down and took her hand off his dick and brought it up to his mouth. He kissed each finger.

"You wanted me to stop?" she murmured. "But you felt so good in my hand."

"Yeah, but only cause the instant you took hold of me," he said his words muffled against soft hair, "I began to lose my mind."

She liked the sound of that. "Maybe that won't be so bad to lose your mind," she suggested. She wrapped her legs around his hips and pressed into his erection.

"It won't be bad," he grunted. "But it will be fast and I don't want to come in your hand."

"Then where do you want to come?" she asked seductively.

"Inside you. I need to be inside you." Daryl had never talked like this to a woman during sex before. Usually there was a lot of grunting, an 'Oh God' or two and it was over. Dayna made him want to explore, and have them share this together. He was loving it.

"Do it," she begged. "Please."

Daryl rolled Dayna onto her back and stared into her dark brown passion filled eyes. They both had waited for this for such a long time. He then on top of her and captured her mouth as he slid himself deep into her body. They both groaned simultaneously.

She was so wet and tight and he was so ready to burst, that after the first few thrusts Daryl knew he wasn't going to last for long. Then he suddenly remembered the condoms. As much as he hated to stop, he was too smart not to risk it. He quickly rolled off Dayna, surprising her.

"Daryl? What's going on?" she asked startled by his abrupt departure.

He didn't answer her answer quickly slid off the bed and searched for his pants. He had put condoms in his back pocket yesterday when he was going to look for Dayna. He never took them out.

Dayna sat up on an elbow watching him completely confused. " _What on earth was he doing_?" she wondered. He was fumbling with his pants. _Was he leaving_?

Finally he found the back pocket that held the condoms he had placed there. Triumphantly he showed them to Dayna who only then understood what he was doing. Using a condom hadn't even crossed her mind. Having sex without a condom was something that she typically never ever did. She couldn't think straight around him.

"Get that thing on fast," she practically demanded.

"Trying. I'm trying." Daryl ripped the wrapper with his teeth and soon had the condom rolled onto his dick and was positioned back between her legs in seconds. He entered her slowly this time and only partially. Then he pulled out and went back in a little deeper and he did that again and again.

"Oh my God you are killing me," Dayna moaned.

"After that strip tease, you had it comin'." His teasing Dayna was killing him too, so he thrust in her hard and deep and watched her arch off the bed.

"More," she begged him, "More!"

Daryl picked up the pace and all too soon he felt the orgasm start to build again. Dayna felt her own start that incredible climb that had her nails biting relentlessly into his back. He started to move faster and harder, pushing himself inside her as far as he could go feeling her inner muscles tighten.

Daryl's strokes were strong and hard as he pounded himself into her. Their sweat soaked bodies were joined, as all too fast the orgasm started to hit Daryl. It was too soon and too quick, but he couldn't control his body. It had been too long for him and he couldn't stop.

Dayna could feel him harden even more inside of her as his pace increased even faster. This put her over the edge too. They shared the orgasm, coming together in ultimate oneness. They shuddered as they were rocked with wave after wave of electricity, finally collapsing in exhaustion. Neither said anything for several minutes, just the sound of their ragged breaths filled the room. Daryl felt himself slide out of Dayna, so he rolled off her so he could get the condom off.

The moment was still so intimate that they both needed the touch of the other still. Dayna curled up on her side with her head on his chest. She looked up at Daryl saw how relaxed he was. A gentle smile curved on his lips. She loved knowing that she had the power to bring that sexy look of contentment to his face.

Daryl opened his eyes and looked down at Dayna. She was smiling up at him. He placed a kiss on her slightly swollen lips and made a mental note to try to be gentler with her. He was used to hard and fast, not soft and passionate. His left arm was wrapped tightly around Dayna, and with his right arm with the devil tattoo is thrown over his head. He had never had a sexual experience like that. "Fuck," he mumbled.

"Again?" she laughed.

"Hell yeah, but I need time to recover. That was…fuckin' unbelievable. Ain't never felt like that before," he admitted hoping he didn't sound stupid.

"Neither have I. Never ever has it been that way for me. Many women, including me don't come during sex, we need extra stimulation. I came with you and that was a first for me. It was incredible," she admitted. Dayna got the feeling that Daryl wasn't one for this type of conversation, but if they were going to be together, they would have to know what please each other.

Daryl looked down at Dayna in complete surprise. "Really? That wasn't normal for you?"

"No, Babe. You are something else," she told him planting a kiss on his chest.

"Well go me," he said proudly making Dayna laugh.

They lay together on the bed, neither wanting to do or say anything to spoil the perfect moment that they shared, until Dayna said, "How many condoms do you have?"

"Think I got two more," Daryl replied.

"Good."

"Why's that?" he asked.

"Cause we don't have to go back, until we need more," she said with a sly smile. "And by the way, do you always carry condoms in your back pocket?"

Daryl laughed. "No not usually. Sure as hell glad I had them. I found a couple boxes when out on the run and they went directly in to my pack. When I got back I showered and threw a few in my back pocket before I went to look for you. I was being prepared."

"My little boy scout," Dayna giggled.

"It ain't little and I ain't no boy scout," he growled into her ear.

"And thank God for that!" she sighed. Dayna looked down at his shaft and saw he was hard again. She was immediately wet. "Looks like it's time to put another one of those condoms to use. Touch me," she pleaded softly. Daryl instantly obeyed. Time for round two with the hottest woman he ever knew.

* * *

A/N: Thank you to the people that contributed to the 1800 plus page views for Restless just this week so far. That is just crazy! I'd love to know what you guys think of it. The more reviews I get the more people will check out Restless.

Thanks to EastDenise, Bukajade, WalkingAddiction and Nangel4 for taking the time to leave reviews. They are much appreciated!

Thanks also to everyone that has favored or is following Restless. That list has grown in leaps and bounds these last few days.


	40. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40**

Night had finally come to the little house and the bedroom that Daryl and Dayna were in was bathed in the soft light of flickering candles. Daryl knew they would have to head back to Alexandria tomorrow as he was practically out of food. He was not prepared for an extended stay, or the appetite they had after another round of mind blowing sex. He had never known it could be like this. It was not just to get him off, it was being with Dayna and sharing it. He had never really cared what happened to the women he had been with. She had been a means to an end for him. With Dayna it was completely different and he loved it.

"Hey I wanted to ask you about your tattoos," she said breaking the silence. Dayna sat on the bed wearing nothing but an old t-shirt she found in the dresser in the other room.

"What about 'em? I got them so long ago, I almost forget they are there."

Dayna traced a finger over the devil he had on his right bicep. "Why a devil?"

"Why not? I liked it."

"Okay, what about the little ones? I saw a heart and a star."

"There's also an 'X' ," he told her.

"Where?" Dayna asked.

Daryl pointed to his collarbone and Dayna saw the small tattoo. "I know why you got that one," she purred.

"Why?" Daryl was curious to know what she was thinking.

"So I would know to do this there." Dayna placed a kiss over the 'X', then another on his shoulder, then back to the 'X' and finally on the side of his neck before she stopped.

Daryl closed his eyes the second her lips touched him. He did not fully understand how a simple little touch like that could make him so crazy for her. He felt his dick start to grow immediately. "Wait...why you stoppin'?"

Dayna easily saw the evidence of what her kisses did to him and it thrilled her. "There's still more to talk about. Let me see the ones on your back."

He stiffened for a brief moment and Dayna felt it. He needed to get comfortable with her seeing his back and she had just the plan for it. "C'mon, show me," she asked in a low husky voice that he was powerless to ignore.

Daryl slowly turned over so he was now lying on his stomach. Neither of them said anything for a moment, as Dayna finally got a good look at his mangled back. Her fingers reached out to gently touch the ink on his back first.

Dayna lightly traced the two forms with her fingers tips. "Hmm…these are confusing. Are they demons or angels or both?" Delicate kisses followed her fingers as she explored the two tattoos.

"They're both. Felt they represented me the best," he moaned. As long as she kept touching him that way, he'd talk about those damn tattoos forever.

Dayna's hands worked themselves from touching his tattoos, to stroking his shoulders and then down his spine. She felt the raised hardness of the multiple scars from when he had been beaten, and touched them over and over again, so he would get used to her. Her mouth left a fiery trail touching everything it could. She would caress him as often as she could like this, to help him replace the bad memories with good.

"Thank you," he said softly his voice deeper than normal. Daryl rolled over so he was facing her again. How much he had enjoyed he kisses was clearly evident

She leaned down and pressed her lips to his. Daryl's hand came up and cupped the back of her head holding her to him. The kiss got deeper and hotter as their mouths sought to possess the other.

These past few hours had been a dream come true for Dayna. Daryl was finally hers after all these frustrating months and it was better than she ever could have imagined. They still had a lot to learn about each other, but so far she could not believe how compatible they were in bed.

Dayna's hand that had been resting on his chest now started to lightly move across him. It was a gentle dance of her fingers caressing him wherever they moved to and included traveling lower on his firm body. He didn't see the twinkle in her eyes when she started to tease his upper thighs and pelvic area. However, the occasional groans he let out let Dayna know she was driving him crazy.

She could feel his body vibrating in frustration and need, so after only allowing her fingertips to skim over his hard shaft multiple times Dayna finally took him in her hand. Daryl moaned loudly when her fingers wrapped around him. This time Dayna had no intention of allowing him stop her. Without letting go of him, she broke the kiss and positioned herself down at his hips.

First she stroked him, starting low on his shaft and moving up to the tip. Slow and steady her hand moved up and down his cock finding a continuous rhythm that soon had Daryl groaning on the bed. Dayna looked up at him and his eyes were closed as she took control of his body.

She leaned over and took the tip of him in her mouth, still pumping him with her hand. Daryl's eyes flew open at this unexpected pleasure. Her lips slide down his shaft taking it further and further into her mouth until she let her hand go and her mouth completely controlled him.

"Holy fuck," he moaned. "You are …your mouth …just don't fuckin' stop."

"Not going to," she told him as she tongue swirled circles around the ridge.

When she finally swallowed down to the base of his dick, Daryl thought he died right there in that room, because nothing could feel this way, nothing. He had blowjobs before, but nothing compared to this.

Dayna was going down on him hard and Daryl's breaths were fast and ragged. She knew she was bringing him to the peak, but instead of speeding up, she slowed down with long slow strokes using her tongue as much her mouth.

Daryl wanted to beg her to go faster and harder, but he couldn't get any words to form. It took about everything he had just to be able to breath. He suddenly felt her fingers start to fondle his balls and he knew he was about done.

Dayna felt him harden more and knew he was getting close. She picked up her speed again and used a combination of her mouth and hand to pump him as fast as she could. When she felt him start to come, she took him deep into her throat as the orgasm finally over took him. She continued to keep him moving in her mouth until she was sure he was completely done. Then she let him slip out from her lips and she rested her cheek on his thigh, watching him with a smile. After a few minutes Daryl opened his eyes to see her grinning up at him. He still hadn't found the energy to speak yet.

He indicated with a nod of his head for her to join him, so Dayna eased her way back up the bed into his arms and they lay together heart to heart. "Are you alive?" Dayna whispered.

"Barely. Damn woman…I've been blown before, wait that sounds like shit, I mean…fuck how do I say this without sounding like an asshole?" Daryl wanted to tell her that was the best blow job he had ever had, but he felt strange saying that.

Dayna started to giggle. He was so cute when he was flustered. Big Bad Daryl was embarrassed. "I'll say it for you. I just gave you the best fucking blow job you've ever had, right?"

"Hell yeah."

"Neither of us are virgins here Daryl, it's okay. You've had relationships, I've had relationships ...we both have a past," Dayna told him. "It's alright."

"Never had a relationship before. One night stands, fucking in bar parking lots and the occasional bathroom blowjob. Everything about you is a first for me," he admitted. He never met anyone he wanted to spend time with, plus with Merle around it would have been a nightmare. Finally Daryl could be himself.

Dayna kissed him on his cheek. "I am honored to be your first and together we will figure us out. So far it's been pretty damn amazing."

Daryl gave her a hug and a kiss on top of her head. They lay together for a while in the dark room as the candles had finally burned themselves out. He heard Dayna's breathing become steady and rhythmic and knew that she had fallen asleep. For the first time in his sorry existence he loved his life and he had Dayna to thank. He was actually looking forward to tomorrow and drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face.

* * *

 **A/N: A huge thank you to all of the readers this past week. Quadruple what I was getting in the past. Awesome! Picked up a lot of new followers too. Thank you so much! Keep those reviews coming, I love them.**

 **I will post a bonus chapter this afternoon, so this is a two for one day! W** **ith the posting schedule I use Restless should be done end of next week. It's been a long journey for us all. Then my next story will begin posting it's called "Suddenly...Gone". I hope everyone keeps an eye out for it.**

 **Thanks again everyone.**

 **Walker Witch**


	41. Chapter 41

Daryl awoke first the next morning to the sun shining in the window, birds chirping outside and his left arm was completely numb. Dayna had been lying on his shoulder the whole night and he didn't want to disturb her. He leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her nose causing her to stir.

"Mmmm," Dayna groaned as she slowly came awake. Her sleepy eyes found his smiling blue ones. "The last time I slept that good was right here with you…those first nights that I knew you. I'm so happy to wake up with you again." Dayna tilted her head to place a good morning kiss on his lips, but Daryl wasn't content enough to let it end there. He pulled it into a deep passionate kiss that had both of their bodies on fire instantly.

"How many condoms do we have left?" Dayna asked between kisses.

"One."

"Thank God. I love morning sex," she sighed.

"Never had it," Daryl told her.

Dayna broke the kiss and gave him a sexy smile that turned Daryl's semi-hard dick into a full-fledged hard on. "You will now."

She sat up and Daryl instantly moaned. "What's wrong?"

"Arm fell asleep and when you got up the blood started flowing again. Just give me a minute," it actually was a lot more painful than he was letting on, but he wasn't going to look like a pussy in front of her.

"In that case, you just lie there and I'll take care of everything," Dayna purred.

Daryl liked the sound of that. While he slowly regained the use of his arm, he watched her slink down the bed and leaving kisses in her wake. He had put on his boxers after that fuckin' phenomenal blow job last night before they went to sleep, so he still had them on. Once they dropped to the floor, Daryl was completely naked on the bed and his dick was flying at full mast.

Dayna sat for a moment staring at her man. His body was lean, yet muscular and had a cock that did incredible things to her. She was so damn lucky. She knew Daryl was watching her, so she got up off the bed and stood facing him still wearing that old t-shirt she had found, but nothing underneath it. Dayna took hold of the hem of the shirt and slowly, very slowly raised it up and over her head.

The show was a huge turn on for Daryl. Women were never sexy around him and he was loving this. Dayna stood there in all her incredible glory just for him. He looked at her large breasts and knew he'd never get enough of touching or tasting them. His hand was demanding one right now. She had the most perfect body he had ever seen, with curves all in the right places. Finally his eyes traveled lower as her nakedness hid nothing. The need to bury himself in her again was overwhelming.

Neither of them said anything as they stared at each other. Dayna's hands moved up to her breasts and caressed them. Daryl's eyes got huge as he watched her. He had seen this in a porno, but never right in front of him. Her eyes closed and he could see she was totally into this.

Dayna opened the foil packet and climbed back up onto the bed. Daryl didn't even realize that he was unconsciously stroking himself until Dayna started to roll the condom over his erection. Just the touch of her fingers on him sent sparks through every nerve ending he had. He lifted a shoulder to sit up, but Dayna pushed him back down and quickly straddled him. She rubbed her wetness against him teasing him, before she bent down and gave him a full open mouthed kiss. When their tongues clashed, she pushed down hard onto his shaft and he was instantly fully inside of her. They both groaned out loud.

Dayna knew that neither of them was going to last long at all, so she started riding Daryl hard and fast. This was a new side to Dayna that Daryl was seeing and loved it. He reached up with both hands and squeezed her tits. Every single one of his fantasies was coming true. Daryl pinched her nipples and Dayna moaned "Harder…harder." So he did and he could see that she was becoming lost in her passion.

When Dayna cried "Oh God," Daryl knew that she was coming and that threw him over edge. Together their bodies screamed in ecstasy as the strong orgasm claimed them both. Dayna collapsed on top of Daryl. They were both dripping with sweat. Neither could move for several minutes.

Dayna finally lifted her head off of Daryl's shoulder and smiled at him, "Good Morning. So…how did you like morning sex?"

"Fuckin' incredible. That's how I want to get up every day… comin' in you," he told her.

"Me too Babe, me too." Dayna finally rolled off Daryl and sat on the edge of the bed. "I could kill for a shower right now," she sighed. Dayna started looking for her clothes that were strewn around the room while Daryl disposed of the condom. They both got dressed and knew it was time to head back to Alexandria. They were out of food and out of condoms.

"Well I guess we need to go back," Dayna said. "Wish we could stay here though."

"Me too, but we ain't got any food left and the last condom just went out the window," Daryl told her.

"You threw it out the window?" Dayna asked shocked.

"Where the hell else should I put them, can't flush 'em here," Daryl reasoned.

Dayna just shook her head and smiled, as she laced up her boots. Quietly they gathered up their weapons as they both came with little else. They both stopped outside the room that held special memories for them. "We'll be back," Daryl murmured into her hair as he placed a kiss on her head.

This ramshackle house was more of a home to him than anyplace he had lived his whole life. He wished he could offer her more.

"I love you," Dayna told him before they headed down the stairs.

'Yeah, I love you too," Daryl said gruffly. He meant it, but it wasn't easy for him to say. This is what he waited his whole life for, but that didn't mean he knew what he was doing. He had to get used to all the changes in his life.

Daryl followed Dayna down the stairs and they both listened for a moment. All was quiet. Daryl peaked out the window and didn't see any sign of walkers, so together they moved the sofa away from the door.

"Ready?" he asked her.

"Yes."

Daryl left the house first, scanning the area for walkers, but he still didn't see any. His crossbow was up and loaded with a bolt. Dayna was right behind him with her knife in her hand. They were headed back to Alexandria. Although neither of them wanted to go as they were enjoying their time together, they were out of food and had responsibilities they needed to get back too. Dayna hoped Rick had explained to Denise why she was gone.

They got onto Daryl's motorcycle and it was a short safe trip back to the gate. When it was slowly opening to let them in, when Dayna touched his arm and Daryl turned to her. "We can go back to the house anytime, right? I like spending time there with you."

Daryl kissed her. "Anytime you want, just say it. It's our place now."

"Good." Dayna kissed him back as the gate opened enough to let them both through. She waved a thanks to the guard on duty and wrapped her arms around Daryl as they headed back home. " _Wait_ ," she thought to herself. " _How are we going to do this_?"

Daryl parked the bike next to the house and they both got off. "Hey, I just thought of something. I don't mean to be presumptuous but how do you want handle the living arrangements? Separate rooms? Your room? My room? What should we do?" Dayna asked. They should have talked about this already, but neither brought it up until now.

Daryl turned and looked at Dayna. "Separate rooms? Fuck that shit. I ain't sleeping in a bed without you. Your room or mine it don't matter."

She loved his approach to living together and was so glad he was on the same page as she was. She didn't want to be without him either. They walked around to the front of the house quickly deciding that whoever had the bigger room, or whichever one Dayna felt would work best was fine. Daryl was leaving it up to her.

When they got to the front stairs Rick was leaning against the railing watching them approach. He didn't miss the relaxed look on his friend's face, nor that they were holding hands. "Can I assume that you've both worked out your differences?" he drawled.

"You can say that," replied Daryl s they made their way up the front stairs. When they reached the porch Daryl turned to Dayna, "Go check it out. Top of the stairs back room on the right."

"Okay, I'll be back in a minute," she told him placing a kiss on his lips.

Rick laughed heartily. "What?" Daryl asked.

"You two definitely worked everything out," he laughed. "Where's she headed?"

"I'm letting her figure out which room we're gonna take," he told him.

"I'm happy for you, man," Rick said putting a hand on his best friends shoulder. "She's a good woman."

"And she picked me. What the fuck, right," Daryl laughed. "It sucked having to come back."

"You were at that house you use, right? At least we got electricity and running water here."

"Lots of privacy over there, bro. Going through that getting to know ya shit,' Daryl said.

"May need to find a place like that for me and Michonne. Too many kids around here. Why didn't you stay longer? Everything is fine here," Rick asked.

"Ran out of condoms," Daryl said matter-of-factly.

They both burst out laughing.

Dayna heard the laugher from the front porch and smiled to herself. Hearing the always serious Daryl laugh was music to her ears. She knew this relationship was going to change their lives in more ways than they ever thought possible. "What's so funny," she asked as she rejoined the men outside.

"That you guys only came back because you ran out of condoms," Rick said with a smirk.

"You told him?" she exclaimed looking at Daryl. "I am so embarrassed. We ran out of food too, did he tell you that? It was another reason we came back." Dayna could feel the blush washing over her.

"Which was more important?"

Dayna looked at Daryl and then they both looked at Rick and answered, "Condoms" at the same time. They all burst out laughing.

This was definitely more fun for the guys than it was for her. It was not the conversation she expected to be having the second they got back or at all, certainly not with Rick. Dayna reached over and touched Daryl's arm. I think your room is better for us. Why don't you put the crossbow away and meet me at the other house and help me move everything."

Daryl told her that was fine, he'd be right there and after a kiss goodbye, she headed over to her house to pack up. Rick and Daryl walked inside the house and Rick turned to Daryl. "Good to see you happy, man."

"Thanks." Daryl took the stairs two at a time and headed into his room. He looked around wondering why Dayna choose his room over hers. It was pretty sparse, but way larger and nicer than anything he ever had in his life. Yet, it never felt like home. He put his crossbow in the corner where he usually kept it, the he realized the clothes he left in the middle of the floor a few days ago where gone. With a hunch, he opened closet and saw the shirt he had worn and the pants that needed another patch hanging clean in the closet. " _Carol_ ," he thought. She must have cleaned up while he was gone.

Daryl knew Dayna was waiting on him, so he hurried down the stairs and caught Carol coming in the front door. "You're back!" she said with a smile. "Is everything okay?"

"Yep, better than okay," he told her. "Thanks for cleaning up my room." He surprised her with a kiss to her forehead.

"Where you going?" she asked.

"Go help Dayna move her shit in here."

Carol's eyes softened. "I am so happy for you." Carol reached out and gave him a hug which surprisingly he returned. She whispered in his ear, "That's why I changed the sheets too."

Daryl chuckled as he walked out of the house and headed towards Dayna's. He strode in the front door and knocked on her door. Well at least he hoped it was hers. Both houses had an open door policy, so that anyone could come and go as they pleased without knocking, but the bedrooms were a different story. He thought he knew which room was hers, but now that he was in the house, he wasn't one hundred present sure. Then Dayna opened the door and he knew he was right.

"I'm almost ready," Dayna told him.

Daryl looked around the room and didn't see as much stuff as he anticipated. "I thought women had a lot of …of stuff."

"Not now we don't. Just have what we need, or at least I do." Dayna took a final look around the room. She had packed in record time, but then again she really didn't have much to move. She used a suitcase that the previous owns had left in the house for her clothes, everything else was dumped into two packs and a plastic bag. "That's it."

"You sure you're ready to move in with someone like me? This is your chance to back out," he asked her before they left the room.

"No way," Dayna told them as they walked down the stairs. Daryl carried the suitcase and a pack and Dayna had the rest. "You're not getting rid of me that easy, I'm in for keeps. Plus I saw how neat your room was so figure we are a good match."

"I can explain my room in one word," Daryl said as they heading into the main house.

"What's that?"

"Carol."

"Daryl!" she exclaimed. "You made Carol clean your room?'

"Fuck, no. She would just do it. I never asked her to and I sure as shit wasn't going to tell her no. I may be a redneck, but ain't stupid." Daryl looked over and saw Carol in the kitchen. "Carol, did I ever ask you to clean my room and do my laundry?"

Dayna looked at them both in surprise. "You cleaned his room and did his laundry? Why did you do that?"

Carol looked at Dayna with a smirk. "Because I was tired of seeing him in dirty clothes all the time, so I would just take them out if his room when I did my own laundry. That led to picking stuff off the floor, changing his sheets and before I knew it the room was clean. But now….he's all yours."

"And here I thought he was a neat freak when I saw the room," Dayna laughed.

"Love is blind, Dayna….love is blind," Carol called out as they headed up the stairs.

Daryl found that he was getting nervous the closer they got to his room. He knew this was what he wanted, but in the span of less than twenty-four hours he got a girlfriend, had sex, fell in love and now was moving in together. It was a lot to take in, especially when the only thing he had done before was the sex. He hoped he didn't screw this up. Communication wasn't something he was good at.

He opened the door that he rarely kept locked and walked in ahead of Dayna. "I don't have a lot if shit, so you should find plenty of room for your stuff. Just move my stuff anywhere."

Dayna put her bags on the floor and sat at the end of the bed. "Hey join me for a second," she told him. When he sat down next to her, she took his hand in hers. "This is a big step for us when barely 24 hours ago, you hated me. This was as long time coming, but when it did we moved fast. Are you okay with me being here?"

It took Daryl a moment to answer her. "Yeah, I am. You're right this is fast, but it's what I want even though I am a bit nervous."

"I am too," Dayna admitted to Daryl's surprise.

"Your room was okay, why did you choose mine?" he asked curious to how she made her decision.

Dayna got a big smile on her face. "That was easy. One look at your big stall shower sold it. Figured we'd have some good times in there and my shower would never work for that."

Daryl's face got that sexy half smile that usually made Dayna weak in the knees. "I like how you think, woman. How about we christen that sucker right now?"

"I'll start the water and you get the condoms!" Dayna laughed.

"Deal!" Daryl started rummaging through his stuff wondered where the hell the boxes of condoms he had went. He opened the door and shouted, "Carol!"

In the distance he heard, "In your night stand." Daryl ran over to the nightstand and sure enough they were in the drawer. He was pulling a couple out of the box when a half dressed Dayna poked her head out of the bathroom.

"Did she just tell you where the condoms where?"

Daryl chuckled a little. "Yeah."

Dayna simply shook her head. "We are locking that door from now on. Got it?"

"Got it."

Daryl triumphantly held up two condoms. Dayna responded by unhooking her bra and dropping it to the floor. Then she turned her back to him and shimmied out of her panties leaving them in a small puddle on the floor. As Dayna headed for the shower she heard the sound of clothing coming off, then one boot and then there was a big thud with several, " Fuck, fuck, fuck!."

"You okay out there?" she called out from the bathroom.

"Just…getting…this …fuckin' boot off," he said heatedly. A final thud came from the last boot hitting the floor and like a shot he joined her in the hot steamy shower.

Dayna had the water already soaking her long hair. "What was that big noise I heard?" she asked while grabbing the bar of soap.

"That was me. I fell over trying to take off that last boot, guess I was in too much of a hurry," he said taking the soap from her and using it to lather him self up.

Dayna burst out laughing. She would have loved to have seen that. "If you keep laughing at me, I'm gonna make you pay," he growled in that low sexy voice of his.

She pushed herself up against his naked body, feeling his hard erection against her pelvis. "Show me," she demanded in a low whisper. And that's what he did over and over again, showed Dayna how Daryl Dixon loved his woman.


	42. Chapter 42

**Chapter 42**

Living together wasn't as easy as it sounded. While they spent the last seven months fighting their attraction, and eventually falling in love, Dayna and Daryl did not know that much about each other. Old habits for some were hard to break and that would cause some occasional tension between them.

Daryl was sitting on the front steps of the house smoking a cigarette. It was a warmer than normal day with summer just around the corner. It was an odd day in that he had nothing to do. Dayna was at the infirmary and as much as he loved her, he relished this time alone. This whole group, this new family he had, had been traveling and surviving together for over two years. Living in such close quarters with Dayna was taking some getting used to.

He used to only have to take care of himself. He wasn't used to having to consider another person's needs. Now he had to remember to do shit that wasn't normal for him. When he and Merle lived together, he didn't have to worry about picking up after himself or making the bed or that damn toilet seat.

They had their first fight that morning over it. Daryl never had to put a toilet seat down in his life, so he tried, but rarely remembered to do it. During the night Dayna had gotten up to go to the bathroom, he of course didn't put the seat down and she ended up with her ass wet and cursing him. At the time he thought it was funny, but this morning when she got up, dressed and was out the door without their usual morning round of sex, he knew he had fucked up.

Up until then everything was going pretty well. He enjoyed waking up to a warm body next to him each morning. He was an early riser, so sometimes he would just lie there and watch her sleep. He still had no idea why someone as beautiful and hot as she was, wanted to be with him. He sure as hell knew he wasn't good looking even though Dayna said he was. It was still a mystery to him.

" _How can I make it up to her_?" he thought. " _Gotta apologize first, then I have to make sure I put the fuckin 'seat down. It's simple so I gotta be stupid if I don't do it. What else can I do that she would like_?" The answer popped into his head and he knew it would work. Maybe he was finally getting the hang of this relationship shit after all.

He knew Dayna did the afternoon house calls if there were any and he hoped there was. This would give him a chance to talk to Denise. In the meantime he went up to their room, made sure all of his stuff was put away. Then he packed up a backpack with stuff they would need for overnight. He hoped he guessed right with her stuff. Daryl opened the night stand drawer and saw that they were getting low on condoms. There was an unwritten rule that any guy that went on any type of run, he needed to be on the lookout for them. He needed to raid their hidden stash, but in the meantime he grabbed the last box out of the drawer and packed it.

He hid the backpack in the closet in case Dayna stopped back. Then he took his empty pack and left the house headed to the pantry. There he stocked up on food, candles and bottled water. The pantry was close to the infirmary so he was careful as he left. He saw a person walking way down the street and realized it was Dayna. She had a bag in her hand, so he figured she was going on her house calls. He ducked into the infirmary looking for Denise.

"Yo, Doc," he called out.

"Be right there," Denise answered. "Hey Daryl, looking for Dayna?"

"Naw…I need to ask a favor. Do you need Dayna tomorrow?"

"Not really, why?" she asked.

"Would it be okay if she missed work tomorrow? I got sumthin' planned… kinda fucked up." Daryl hung his head sheepishly, but Denise just laughed.

"So that's why she was in such a bad mood today." Denise put her hand on Daryl's arm, "It's not like we're punching a timeclock. Sure go fix whatever you did and have fun."

"Plan on it Doc. Don't say a word to her, 'kay?" Daryl hurried out of the infirmary and ran back to get the backpack he hid in the room. It took just a little over an hour to get everything set up. He was going to try being romantic, but he really didn't know what he was doing. He was able to make a quick trip with everything over to the green house and back before she finished her day.

Dayna had a miserable day at work. It wasn't busy, it was just long and she had to make another house call to Mrs. Caldwell who loved to talk and Dayna's heart just ant in it today. Maybe she overreacted with Daryl. Sure it pissed her off that he wasn't making an effort to put the seat down for her, but in the scheme of things it was minor. She'd need a way to make it up to him.

"Denise, I'm heading out," she called out.

"Okay, bye," Denise yelled from the office. "And have fun," she added in a whisper. Maybe it was time for her to find something to surprise Tara with.

Dayna closed the door behind her and started down the stairs when she noticed Daryl leaning against his motorcycle. The bad mood she was in all day simply vanished at the site of him. He walked up to him and threw her arms around him. "I'm sorry."

"Me too," he told her. He kissed her, but what started out as a normal kiss quickly escalated to all out heat. It finally clicked that they were in a very public place and Daryl pulled back first. They were both breathing heavy. "Damn woman," he laughed. "You make me forget where we are."

"Oops!" Dayna laughed.

Daryl straddled the bike and started the engine. Dayna was a bit confused on what was going on. "Get on," he told her.

Dayna slipped on behind him. "Where are we going?"

"For a ride. Hang on." Daryl drove them to the gate and then roared out to the countryside. He needed the ride as much as he needed Dayna. They rode for a little while staying out of the way of walkers just enjoying the warmth of the late afternoon. After a little bit, Dayna realized that Daryl was headed back home, she would have loved for them to been able to ride longer, but night would be coming soon.

It surprised her when instead of heading to the entry gate, Daryl turned down a side road. A big smile came across Dayna's face when she realized where they were headed. After Daryl parked the bike, Dayna got off first and waited until Daryl dismounted. The she threw her arms around him. "Thank you! Thank you! This is perfect."

"Kinda sad ain't it that this piece if shit house makes you that happy," he said.

"It's not the house itself Daryl, it's what it represents. Yeah, it's a rundown house, but it's ours. I first got to know you here, we started to fall in love here and we worked everything out here. That's why I love this house," She explained. "It has a lot of memories."

Daryl took the crossbow off the back of the bike and they headed to the front door. As always he would sweep the house first. He had his right hand in the knob and his left held the crossbow. Dayna had he knife out. "Do you know why I like this house?"

"No why?"

"Because we don't have to worry about people hearing me fuck you. And I plan on doing that over and over again tonight." Daryl flashed her a drop dead sexy look before he opened the door and started the sweep. He left Dayna with her mouth open in the doorway. "Are you comin'?" he called out.

"Well isn't that up to you?" she laughed closing the door closed tightly behind her. Daryl came down the stairs after clearing the house.

He crushed his mouth to hers in the semi dark room. They pulled apart just long enough to push the sofa against the door. Daryl took her by the hand and they started up the stairs.

"How many condoms did you bring this time?" Dayna asked.

"The whole fuckin' box," he told her with a sly grin.

"Hot damn!" Dayna laughed. The trail of clothes started even before they reached the top step.


	43. Chapter 43

**Chapter 43**

Daryl and Dayna both lay exhausted on the bed in a tangle of arms and legs. Their breaths were ragged as they lay panting and gasping for air. "Wow," mumbled Dayna.

"Fuckin' wow," echoed Daryl. He then leaned up on one elbow, "So you like it hard and fast too?"

"Hell yeah," she sighed. Dayna turned on her side to face Daryl. "We still have a lot to learn about each other in bed and out, but you will find…I'm game for most anything," she whispered in his ear.

" _How did I get so lucky_?" he wondered before he turned on his side to face her too. "After I recover, I wanna find out what out 'most anything' includes."

"You don't have to wait…hold on," Dayna said sitting up naked. She looked around the room and saw what she missed in their eagerness to have sex. "Did you do this?"

"Yeah."

"You did this for me?" she asked astounded. The room was cleaner than usual. He had lit more candles than normal and there were wildflowers in a mason jar. Dayna knew that Daryl wasn't a romantic, she was sure he didn't even know what the word meant, so this was a huge deal.

"Yeah. Wanted to apologize 'bout last night," he told her. "I'll do a better job."

"I love you, you know that right?" she asked him pressing a gentle kiss to his lips.

"Yeah and I love you too. I ain't always gonna get it right, Dayna but I will try. This is all new to me." He felt stupid saying that to her but it was the truth.

"I know, babe. You have no idea how much this means to me. It just makes me love you even more. You are such a good man, Daryl Dixon. Don't you ever forget it!" Dayna leaned in and kissed Daryl again. This time she put a lot more heat and passion into it and Daryl responded the same. "When do we need to head back?" she mumbled between kisses.

"We don't. You got tomorrow off," he said while placing sensual kisses along her neck.

"Thank God." Dayna slowly move her hand along Daryl's hip and then up and down his back. He no longer cringed when she touched the raised scars back there. Her hand followed the curve of his buttocks, then moving up and down his firm thigh before she finally took hold of his dick. It was already hard again. "Don't take this wrong, but for a guy your age you recover and get hard pretty damn fast."

"With someone as hot as you touching me, hell yeah I do," he smirked. "I'd have to be dead not to get a boner every time I see you.

Dayna continued to move her hand up and down his shaft. "Just looking at me gets you hard? Seriously?

Daryl had started to play with Dayna's breasts. He had never had a conversation while his dick was getting a hand job. He found he liked it. "Shit, all you had to do was walk down the street or worse into a room I was in and I got a boner. Why do you think I left the room half the time?" He started pinching her nipples the way he knew that she likes. His mouth was aching to take hold of one.

Dayna loved the way he touched her and remember what she liked, but right now she wanted it to be more about him. She picked up the pace and started stroking him faster. "All this time I thought you just didn't want to be in the same room as I was. I can't believe it was because that your…" she moved out of his touch and scooted down the bed further, "your big dick…couldn't handle the sight of me. How does it like me now?" She asked as her mouth closed over the head of his cock.

"Motherfucker," he groaned. "It fuckin' loves you."

Dayna's mouth moved expertly up and down his shaft. She alternated from using solely her mouth to a combination of her mouth and hand. She teased him non-stop until he could barely control himself.

Daryl knew he was coming soon. He looked down to see her sucking on the head of his dick. Her eyes met his and her beautiful sexy face transformed into the look of a naughty vamp. The sight was so sexy he had to look away or he'd blow his load right there. He wasn't ready to even though his body was telling him otherwise. His body won out the second her took him fully in her throat.

Dayna held him in her mouth until he was done. The power she had over him was intoxicating. He lay on the bed motionless, not having the energy to move. The only sound in the room was Daryl's deep breathing as he tried to recover. He finally motioned with his hand for her to come up and join him.

Kissing her forehead was about all he had the energy to do. Dayna snuggled next to him happy that she could have this effect on him. She knew they had so much more to explore together, but she wasn't going to push it.

"This piece of crap house feels like a home. I've never really had one," Daryl finally said.

His unexpected words surprised Dayna. "Where did you live growing up?"

"Broken down trailers or shacks in the woods. If the old man had a skank, I was stuck sleeping in the car…if we had one. I took off when I was sixteen and never looked back. Followed Merle around like a fuckin' dog. When we had money there was an apartment for a few months if we were lucky with a mattress on the floor. Damn that sounds pathetic." Daryl stopped for a second before continuing on. "It's just that …even in Alexandria, I don't feel like I belong. Rick and everyone were there, so I stayed. Had no place else to go, but its better now. You make it better for me there…but this house still feels more like me."

Dayna's heart went out to him. She realized how lucky she was to grow up with caring and loving parents. Her childhood was the complete opposite of his. That poor little boy who grew up not knowing what love was. She never could understand how some parents could treat their kids so badly. In these last few weeks she saw the signs of damage that his childhood had done to him. Signs she never saw before like how often he isolates himself from others and how hard it is for him to trust anyone.

"I was lucky," she told him. "You know that I grew up in a good family. I wish you could have experienced that too. My life shaped me and your life shaped you, then all this craziness happened and we changed to adapt to that. Maybe me more so than you. I'm sure you were better prepared for this crazy life than most of us." He was a hunter, a tracker and could live outdoors as easily as he could indoors. The closest Dayna had to sleeping outdoors was napping on a lounge chair by her parent's pool.

"My old man made me learn to hunt. It was how we ate. You camped so that you could hunt, but back then you only worried about snakes and mosquitoes, not something trying to eat your face off. Hell I got lost once, musta been ten or eleven. I was gone for nine days."

"Oh my God! They must have been frantic looking for you," Dayna exclaimed.

"You don't get it. My mom was dead, Merle was in juvie...again and the old man didn't even notice I was gone. Found my way home on my own and went straight to the kitchen to find sumthin' to eat. Things were ugly back then, they still are now, 'cept you're making it a whole lot better." Daryl gave Dayna a squeeze. She had changed his life in so many ways and all for the better.

Dayna kept her head resting on his chest. Her heart broke for that little boy that never knew love. The one that no one ever missed.

Daryl felt something on his chest and looked down. He realized that Dayna was crying. "Hey," he said tilting her chin up so she would look at him. Her big chocolate brown eyes filled with tears. "Don't cry for me. I didn't tell you that stuff so that you'd feel sorry for me, I just wanted you to know why I do the shit I do."

"I'm crying for the little boy that should have been loved, cared for, fed and missed. No child should live that way," she told him wiping away the tears. "The man that he grew up to be is a good man. I'm so proud that you are mine."

"I wasn't a good man, shit I'm not sure I am now. My past controls every action I take and every thought that comes out of my fucked up head."

"I don't think you give yourself enough credit. Sure, we've only known each other a few months, but I heard what you were like in the beginning and you're not that man anymore. You've changed," she told him.

"Oh yeah and how was I back then?"

"Argumentative, huge chip on your shoulder, always looking for a fight. Hell you and Rick didn't even get along and look at you now."

Daryl stayed quiet for a moment. "Yeah, that sounds about right," he admitted. He knew he had been a big dick back then to everyone. "But it wasn't just that Rick and I didn't get along, fuck I pulled a knife on him within five minutes of meeting him, and he put his gun to my head more than once. Maybe it was because he was a cop and I hated cops or that they left Merle in Atlanta, but we learned to get along."

"Get along?" she laughed. "You guys are best friends if something like that still exists. He trusts you…hell everyone trusts you. I did from the second you recued me. You scared me, but I still trusted you." She placed a kiss on his mouth. "You've changed a lot from what I heard and the man I know now, the man that gets me all wild in bed…is a good man. Daryl, maybe your past doesn't have quite the hold on you that you think it does."

"Yeah, well my fuckin' past sure didn't prepare me for a woman like you," he said in a low growl.

"What do you mean by that?" Dayna asked sitting up on one elbow her naked breasts right in his line of vision.

Daryl couldn't resist reaching over than playing with one. "You come off all sweet and nice to everyone like the girl next door, but they would never guess how wild you are in bed."

Dayna felt her body come alive with yearning. This man could do that to her with a touch or look, or her simply knowing how hard he was for her…just her. A quick glance was all it took for her know that he was already full erect. She kissed her way up from his chest to his neck and then whispered in his ear, "Fuck me… Hard."

Faster than she thought possible, Daryl had her on her back, legs up in the air and he entered her with one swift stroke. He didn't stop until they both came together. It was quick, it was hard and extremely satisfying.

" _Dayna has a side that no one would believe_ ," he laughed to himself as he fell back onto the bed exhausted. He had about reached his limit of coming for the night. " _Shit, shoulda met her when I was in my twenties or even thirties. I'm getting more sex now that I'm in my forties than I did in my fuckin' prime._ "

Daryl didn't realize that Dayna had been talking to him. "Sorry, what you say?"

"Have you seen my shirt? I can't find it. I'm a little cold," Dayna told him.

"Think you left it on the stairs, but I did pack a bag. Maybe you can find something in there?"

"You packed a bag too? Daryl Dixon you are simply amazing me today." Dayna walked over and gave him a kiss before searching out the bag. He slapped her on the butt as she went looking for the pack with the clothes while he reclined on the bed still naked. Usually it was Daryl who dressed first, but he had finally gotten comfortable lying around nude.

"This will do," she said pulling out a shirt that Daryl had packed for himself.

"Yo, that's mine," he told her.

"Not anymore." Dayna posed in the sleeveless button down shirt that barely came to her mid-thigh.

Daryl realized that Dayna looked way better in the shirt than he did. Hell she looked great in anything or nothing. "If you take that shirt, I gotta find me more. I'm getting low."

"Low try practically non-existent. You only have like four shirts that I am constantly washing. Don't worry, I'm just borrowing this one for now, but can I look for more shirt and pants for you?" Dayna had been trying to find a way to enlarge his wardrobe without making a big deal out of it. This was her chance.

Daryl had gotten up and started putting his worn pants on and he realized they had more holes than he thought. "Yeah, just keep it to dark colors."

"Of course," Dayna say doing an exaggerated eye roll. "I'm starving, what did you bring to eat?"

Daryl showed Dayna what he brought and while they couldn't heat anything up, it was a decent assortment. They rest of the night was spent just talking and just being together. When you lived in a house of eight people plus a baby, one on one time was hard to come by.

The sun had set a long time ago and the only light in the room was the dozen or so candles they had burning. They both lay exhausted on the bed, with Daryl curled up behind Dayna. Just before she feel asleep she whispered, "Can we take another ride on the bike before we head back tomorrow?"

"Yeah. No problem," he murmured half asleep. She could have asked for the moon and he would try to get it for her. A ride on his bike was a piece of cake.


	44. Chapter 44

**Chapter 44**

It was a leisurely morning of waking up late, a cold breakfast and some incredibly wonderful morning sex. It was nearing noon by the time Daryl and Dayna were ready to head out for a ride on his motorcycle. Even though Dayna had only been in his bike a couple of times she found that she loved it. If this was back before the world fell apart, they could simply just drive and drive and drive with her arms wrapped around him. Now they needed to be careful of walkers, herds and the living.

Dayna was in too good of a mood to do much worrying. She and Daryl were in a really good place in their relationship now. They talked non-stop yesterday and last night and she felt that she really got to know the side of him that he kept hidden. It certainly helped her understand him better.

Daryl opened the door and saw that the area was walker free for a change. He hooked his crossbow to the back of the bike and got on. Dayna was wearing one of the backpacks so they could carry some minimal supplies with them. She climbed on behind Daryl, got herself comfortable and wrapped her arms around him. Her fingers reached between the buttons on his shirt so she could feel the warm skin on his chest.

"Do you wanna ride or crash?" he called over his shoulder.

Dayna giggled. "Ride."

"Then watch yourself and those hands of yours, 'kay?" He loved her hands on him, but that was the problem, he loved them so much he would forget all else around him. They couldn't afford to do that on the bike.

"Sure whatever you say," she told him. He couldn't see the wicked smile on her face, but he knew it wasn't going to be as easy as that. She didn't remove her hand.

"Since when?" he said laughing. Daryl started the bike and they took off through the neighborhood, finally hitting the deserted backroads where he could just let it fly. Daryl would slow down when approaching the top of a hill or around a curve, but they both loved the speed and the freedom the bike gave them.

They encountered small groups of walkers that were easy to get around, but no large herds. It was a beautiful day for a ride. After some time, Daryl looked up at the sun and figured it was somewhere around two or three in the afternoon. He checked his gas gauge and knew they had more than enough gas to get back but he decided to play it safe and head back anyway.

Dayna could tell they were changing directions and probably headed back. Even though she and Daryl had very little conversation between them while riding, she never felt closer to him. He loved motorcycles and the freedom they gave him and now so did she. The fresh air, the wind blowing her hair all over the place and it was something they could share together.

They were about halfway back when Dayna indicated to Daryl to pull over. "What's up?" he asked.

"I wanna stretch my legs for a minute and I gotta pee," she told him.

"Alright, you want me to come with you?" he offered.

"Naw, I'll be fine. I'll scout the area first, but I'll be quick." Dayna gave him a kiss before heading into the woods. She stayed on the lookout for walkers, but there wasn't one insight. It was awful to have to pee in the woods as a girl, but there was no way around it. Dayna found an area not too far in that worked and it felt good to relieve herself. She had been holding it for a while and her bladder was full. While she was fixing her pants she thought she heard a noise and stopped to listen, but didn't hear anything else. Dayna buttoned up her pants and hurried back to Daryl who was leaning up against the bike.

"This has been a wonderful day, Daryl. Thank you so much for doing this for me. I'll never forget it." Dayna straddled Daryl's legs and wrapped her arms around his neck. His went around her waist. Their mouths came together is a clash of desire and need. They could never get enough of each other. Daryl tangled his hands in her hair as Dayna arched her neck as his kisses roamed all over her.

"Well, well, well boys look who we have here. The slut that killed Mike." It took a moment for them to realize they were no longer alone. Dayna quickly turned to face the familiar voice. His words resonated fear throughout her. Dayna's face lost all color and she began to tremble when she saw who it was.

Daryl instantly stepped forward to shield her. His hand went for the gun on his hip, but stopped when he saw three guns pointed at them. "Fuck," he said under his breath.

He glanced over at Dayna and saw that she was scared to death. " _What the hell is going on_?" he wondered. Daryl stared down the guy that spoken. "Did you just call my girl a slut?" he growled.

"She's a murdering slut and I've been looking for her for a long time. Looks like your time has finally run out Dayna," said the leader.

Daryl was trying to assess the situation the best he could. " _Three on one, ain't bad_ ," he thought. He'd been in worse situations and survived, but he was worried about Dayna. None of the guys were overly big and they looked pretty dirty and worn, so he guessed they weren't eating well which would make then weak. Daryl was anything but weak.

"Dayna, do you know these pricks?" Daryl asked.

"From an old camp I was in." It looked like her face was regaining some of its color. Her demeanor went from scared to pissed off in seconds. "Yeah Marty, I killed Mike. Do you know why? Because he raped me in a house that we were scavenging in. He was going to kill me so I wouldn't tell anyone, but I beat him to it. Your brother was a rapist and murderer and I wasn't going to die that day, so that's why I killed him!" Dayna screamed.

"You lying bitch!" Marty yelled back. "Everyone knew you were putting out at camp and Mike just wanted his turn! You didn't have to kill him. He was my brother and I've been looking for you ever since I found his body."

Dayna's hands clenched into fists as she tried to control herself. She was angry at herself and angry at these men. She should have known that Mike would not give up trying to find her. After all this time she thought she was safe at Alexandria, now both Daryl's and her lives were in danger. "You idiots thought every woman was putting out in that camp and we weren't. We never should have allowed you in, but they wanted more men to help protect us. Man, that was stupid. Your brother was a sick man, Marty. I wasn't the first he did that to, but I made sure I was the last."

Daryl could see that Dayna had riled this Marty guy up so much, that he was ready to lose control. He was hoping to use that to his advantage. He figured he could get two of them pretty easy, he just had to take his chances with the third one.

Dayna knew Daryl was planning something. He had that dangerous hard look he gets when the shits about to hit the fan. She kicked herself for only having a knife on her. If they got out of this, she'd never go beyond the walls without a gun ever again.

"Listen bitch, you shut your mouth about my brother. You're just lying to cover your ass and look good in front of your new boyfriend. Dude, you're lucky she hasn't slit your throat yet," Marty said snidely.

"You're lucky I haven't slit yours," Daryl snarled.

Marty laughed. "There's no chance of that."

"Why, you think I can't take you three assholes?"

"Nope. Not gonna happen." Dayna wondered why Marty was smiling. Something wasn't right.

"Why's that?" Daryl asked. Suddenly he felt searing pain in his head and fell to the ground instantly unconscious. Dayna screamed as she threw herself on him. She looked up and saw another man standing on the other side of the motorcycle. He must have snuck up during the confrontation with Marty and his two sidekicks. In his hand was a baseball bat and he had a sneer on his face.

"Told ya," he laughed at Dayna. "Boys lets tie them up while I figure out what we are going to do with them."

Dayna was dragged kicking and screaming away from Daryl. She had no idea if he was still alive or not. She tried everything in her power to get away, but nothing was working.

"Shut her up, Woody. The bitch is going to attract every fucking roamer in the area to us," Marty instructed.

"Leave me…" was all she got out as Woody slammed his fist into her head and she joined Daryl in an unconscious heap on the road.


	45. Chapter 45

**Chapter 45**

The non-stop throbbing in Daryl's head finally woke him up. He knew something was wrong, so he didn't move or open his eyes until he figured out what was going on. It took a minute or two for his head to clear, and then everything started to make sense. He remembered those pricks that came out of the woods with guns. They knew Dayna and it had something to do with the guy she killed that attacked her. " _That's right, the one douchebag was his brother_ ," he recalled.

He was pissed at himself for them getting the drop on him. That was the one downfall of being with Dayna, he forget all else when she was around. This time it cost them. He slowly opened his eyes just a little to see where they were. It looked like they were dragged into the woods and tied up against some trees. His arms strained behind him.

It was dusk. Daryl saw the four men sitting around a low campfire. " _Hadn't they learned shit_?" he thought. " _Fire attracts walkers_."

He then noticed Dayna's body lying near his. He could see that her hands were tied behind like his was, but she wasn't moving. He watched her until he was sure that she was breathing, the steady rise and fall of her ribcage proved it. He had a bad feeling that she was unconscious. He'd kill the prick that hurt her, in fact he was going to kill all of them. Now he just had to come up with a plan.

Daryl watched through barely open eyes as one of the captors approached Dayna. She groaned as she was jolted back awake. "See I told ya, she'd wake up if I kicked her," one of her captors said. "I wanna have some fun with her Marty."

Dayna's eyes slowly focused and she saw the evil grin of a man that disgusted her on sight. He was filthy, his teeth looked like he never knew what a toothbrush was and the sick look in his eyes made her cringe.

"Get away from her," Daryl said in a steely tone.

"Now both our guests are awake. Clyde getaway from the bitch," said Marty as he approached them. "Now what are we going to do with you two?"

"You best let us go, before I kill you fuckers," Daryl told him. Damn his hands were tied too tightly behind him. He had been trying to get them loose for a while without any luck.

Marty walked over so he was looking down on Daryl. He could sense the hatred and contempt coming off the bound man below him. "Gonna have to think what type of punishment to give you both. Dude, you never should have gotten involved with her. She's the reason you are gonna die, just haven't figured out how I want to do it yet. May have to sleep on it."

Daryl continued to stare at Marty without saying a word. He never blinked or looked away. Daryl radiated anger out of every pore.

Marty sauntered over to Dayna. She didn't worry him at all. "I know what I'm going to do to you Dayna, the question is do I let your boyfriend watch or kill him first?"

"I'll die before I let you touch me you sick bastard. You're no better than your demented brother. He killed Kelly and you know it. He went scavenging with her and she never returned. You can't deny that!" Dayna spat.

Dayna's tirade did affect Marty, but he didn't let it show. Marty had liked Kelly, but hadn't told anyone except Mike. Kelly's death was odd and Mike was out of sorts after it, but Marty took it to be just nerves after her death. Was it more?

"Then why did you go scavenging then with him, if you knew he killed Kelly." Marty wanted to see how she got out of this one.

"Five of us went that day. I was working with Cheryl and Tyler and Mike was with Billy. Suddenly I'm going into a house and Cheryl and Tyler are nowhere to be found and Mike is right behind me. He said Cheryl and Tyler, switched up with Billy and he was gonna help me. I hoped we could do a quick in and out and then I was going to find Cheryl. That never happened. The second we got upstairs Mike attacked me." Dayna could see that Marty wasn't looking as sure of himself as he was before.

"Shut up bitch. Just shut the fuck up!" he shouted at her before walking back to the fire and the other men.

Dayna watched him retreat and then turned to look at Daryl. "Are you okay?" she whispered. He had a trickle of blood that had run down the left side of his face and dried.

Daryl nodded that he was fine.

"No talking back there," Marty yelled at them. "Brian, you're on first watch. Woody will be on second and Clyde will be on third. Let's get some shut eye."

"What, do I do?" asked Brian.

He was the youngest of the group. Dayna put him in his early twenties and wondered how he got involved with these guys. He didn't seem as bad as they were. He may be the answer to them getting out of there alive. One thing that Dayna had learned from Daryl was look for a weak link and Brian was that link.

"Just keep an eye on them, so that they don't escape or kill us, got that kid?" Marty told him.

"Okay, boss. Got it."

The night wore on, but neither Dayna nor Daryl slept.

Daryl had to find some way to get free, but little did he know that Dayna had a plan in mind. If he knew what it was he'd never let her go through with it.

Dayna waited until she was sure that the three men around the dying fire were fast asleep. The snores coming from there confirmed it for her. "Brian," she called out in a whisper. "Brian?"

Brian walked over his gun in his hand. "What do you want?"

"I need to go to the bathroom. Can you untie me so I can go?"

"No way. Just hold it," the young man told her.

"But I can't. I've been holding it for a long time already. You can come with me, if you want," she told him.

Daryl was watching this exchange through hooded eyes. " _What the fuck was she up to_?" he thought. She wasn't just asking to go to the bathroom, he knew that. Her voice was softer, unafraid and that worried Daryl.

Brian didn't know what to do. He had never been involved in anything like this before. He didn't want to see her pee, but maybe he'd see her naked ass or more.

"Okay, but I'm coming with you."

"Perfect," she told him with a smile.

" _Fuck, she was definitely up to something_ ," Daryl said to himself. He didn't know what, but he was staying on alert. She wasn't used to stuff like this and that got him extremely nervous. Daryl was normally calm in any situation, but this had his heart racing.

Brian came up behind Dayna and cut the ropes around her wrists. That freed her from the small sapling she was bound to. She stood up and rubbed her wrists. "Thank you Brian," she said giving him a big smile. Dayna looked around for what would be a good spot to get him to so it was away from the others. "Let's go over there," she said pointing to an area to their left.

Daryl struggled against his ropes for both show and still trying to get loose. Whoever tied him up knew what they were doing.

Dayna walked over to the edge of the clearing they were in and made sure there was an extra swing in her step. She was going to use anything she could to attract Brian. " _Forgive me Daryl_ ," she said to herself.

She undid two buttons on her shirt, so that her cleavage and bra showed. Dayna then turned around to face Brian and forced a sexy smile on her face. "Brian, I really don't have to go to the bathroom. I wanted to get away from Daryl. He's just too possessive and that drives me crazy. I thought you and I could get to know each other better." Dayna made sure that she ran her hand up and down his arm while trying to be as sexy as she could.

"I don't know…a-a-about this" Brian stuttered as her saw her unbuttoned shirt. "Marty told us not to touch you."

Dayna took a step closer to Brian. His body odor almost made her gag, but she managed not to. "You know how Marty said I kinda got around at the camp we had, but I denied it. I just didn't want Daryl to know in case I went back with him, but… I really did." Dayna stepped even closer so that her breasts touched against Brian. She heard him gulp. "I like to have fun, Brian. Will you have fun with me?"

She gently pressed her lips to his mouth and made sure her hips touched his. She deepened the kiss holding him against her with her left hand. She could feel his erection growing as he responded to the kiss. He was a sloppy kisser at best, but Dayna did her best to make sure he was completely distracted by her. His hand came up to roughly squeeze her breast and it took everything she had not to smack it away.

Brian was practically panting and Dayna could tell he had a hard on for her. She lifted her right leg to wrap it around his or so she wanted him to think. Then she reached inside her right boot, pulled the hidden knife from inside of it and stabbed Brian up through the throat into the base of the brain. He dropped like a rock to the ground.

Dead.

Dayna quickly pulled the knife free and wiped it clean of blood on Brian's shirt. Then she ran over to Daryl and cut the ropes that bound him, setting him free.

"You're fucking crazy you know that?" he whispered to her taking the knife away.

"It worked!" she said softly.

Daryl drew her into a rough kiss. "Stay here," he demanded. Dayna nodded that she would.

Silently Daryl crept over the men asleep by the now dead fire. Without hesitation he killed Woody and Clyde each with a single stab of the knife to the head. He moved over to where Marty slept. Daryl was not going to let him go that easy. He slammed the knife into his abdomen, slicing to the side and quickly pulled it out. Marty screamed in pain as he grabbed his bloody stomach. He looked up at Daryl and knew he was going to die.

Daryl's hard stare never moved from Marty's. "I told you I was going to kill you," he growled. "Wanted you to know that you were gonna die. No one treats my girl the way you did and lives."

Dayna watched as Marty started to grovel for his life. She had no sympathy for him at all. She knew he fully planned on killing them both and doing worse to her, they just beat him to it. Even though she had just killed a man herself, it wasn't easy. She saw Daryl do it without hesitation or thought. Normally, this would have scared her to death, but in this strange time, it made her feel safe. She knew he would never hurt her. He would do whatever he could to protect her.

As Marty was screaming he was sorry he was trying unsuccessfully to hold back the blood flow with his hands. Daryl crouched down next to him, "I'm a man of my word." He grabbed hold of Marty's hair with his left hand and slit his throat with his right. Marty was dead within seconds.

Daryl cleaned off the knife with a few swipes on the dead man's pants and walked back to Dayna. She flew into his arms and they both held on tightly to each other not saying a word. Finally they pulled apart. Daryl looked at the knife, "Who taught you about the boot knife?"

"Carol. She told me that whenever I wear the higher boots to always hide a knife there. Thank God she did," Dayna sighed. That knife just saved their lives. "Daryl please believe me that anything said to Brian was a lie. I had to get to my knife and that was the easiest way I could think of. I love you with all my heart, you know that right?"

"It's okay. I knew what you were doing even though hated every minute of it. When he put his hand on you… I about lost it, but I'm proud of you. You didn't panic and did good." He tilted her chin up so she looked directly at him. "Are you okay? It's not easy to kill a man," he asked her.

"I'm okay now," she told him. "Later I may not be, but for how I'm okay. Can we get out of here?"

"Yep, but I want to grab their weapons and check their supplies. There may be something that we could use." Daryl gave her a quick kiss to the forehead before grabbing the guns and knives the men had. Even in the darkness he could see that their packs didn't contain anything he could use except a lighter, which he put into his pocket. The weapons went into their backpack and they were ready to go. Daryl took hold of Dayna's hand and checked the tracks around the campsite. He saw where they dragged him into their camp and headed out that way. He was certain the road wasn't far off. His tracking skills were right on target as they found the road easily and saw his motorcycle sitting right where they left it.

Without a word they both climbed on the bike. Once Dayna wrapped her arms around Daryl the bike took off and they headed towards home. It was never safe to be on the roads in the dark, but it was better than staying where they were. Daryl knew he had to get Dayna someplace safe before the weight of what happened hit her and she crashed.


	46. Chapter 46

**Chapter 46**

It was a long, tiring ride back to Alexandria as Daryl had to make several lengthy detours. They had come across two decent size walker herds, that had them turning around on a dime and having to go way out of their way to get back. All of the time Daryl had spent recruiting and doing supply runs, meant that he knew the area and the backroads well. That knowledge came in very handy at times like this.

As they got closer to Alexandria, Daryl decided it would be better to go back to their little house than back inside the walls. He felt Dayna didn't need everyone asking them what happened right away. Killing wasn't easy even under life and death situations.

Before the turn happened, he had never killed a man before. Never wanted to or needed to. Dale was his first kill and even though it was a mercy killing since Dale had been bit, it still wasn't easy. Each time after that was to save lives be it his or the groups. He never killed just to kill. That wasn't him. He didn't like it, in fact he hated to do it, but he did what had to be done.

That Dayna had killed again bothered him. He didn't want her to deal with the weight of taking another's life. He should have been the one to protect her, not the other way around.

Daryl pulled the bike up to their house and heard Dayna say, "Thank God."

They ran immediately into the house and had the front door secure before they said a word.

"I'm sor…" was all Daryl got out before Dayna flew into his arms. She was sobbing.

Daryl did the only thing he could think of and that was just hold onto her. Once she was all cried out, Dayna lifted her head from his shoulder and wiped away the remnants of her tears.

They stood in the semi-dark living room, not saying a word until Daryl took her hand and they sat down on the old sofa against the wall.

"I'm so sorry," Dayna said softly. "I almost got us killed."

"What the fuck are you talking about? That was all my fault," Daryl told her taking on full responsibility for what happened. He let those guys get the jump on them, not Dayna.

Dayna looked at him confused. "How is it your fault? Marty was after me, not you. You didn't do anything wrong."

"And neither did you, " he told her. "I was too busy with my tongue down your throat to notice them. I know better than to do that out in the open, but the one that started this was the prick that raped you." The word rape practically stuck in his throat. His beautiful Dayna had been raped. "But it's over now, none of them are going to hurt you ever again." He held her in a tight embrace. She was such a strong woman. She held her own against those men and never panicked. He was proud of her. "I'm sorry you had to kill that kid. I never wanted you to have to do that."

"I didn't want to either, but there was no other way." Dayna was sad that she took another life. She knew that she didn't have a choice, it was take them out or she and Daryl would die and she didn't have any plans to die. She had too much to live for now. "Can we go upstairs and you just hold me?"

Daryl stood up without a word and held out his hand for Dayna to take. Together they walked up the staircase to their favorite room. Daryl took off his vest and then his boots, while Dayna just removed her boots. Then Daryl lay down on the bed and Dayna curled up in his strong arms. This was her safe place. It helped to take away all of the bad memories of the past day.

They lay together not saying a word, just listening to the steady beat of each other's heart. Daryl was content on just staying like this with the love of his life in his arms. He never thought he'd be this happy. Hell, he wasn't even sure he knew what being happy was until he met Dayna. Just having her now, made all of those horrible years' worth it and he would do it again if it meant he'd end up with her.

He wanted a taste of her lips. It was his way of telling her they were okay, everything was going to be okay. Daryl could tell that she was not quite asleep, but not fully awake like he was. She had drifted into that in between of consciousness. "Hey," he said softly.

"Mmmm," Dayna moaned tilting her head to look up at him with soft sexy eyes.

As Daryl pressed his lips to hers, he one again wondered how this incredible beautiful woman wanted him. He just didn't get it, but had long given up fighting it.

This kiss started out as soft and loving and Daryl would have been satisfied with that, but when Dayna deepened it, he certainly didn't refuse. The pressure increased with the passion, closed lips opened and tongues touched. They kissed and kissed and kissed until Daryl couldn't take it anymore.

His right hand moved from her back to under her shirt and he caressed the smooth skin he felt. He deftly then unhooked her bra and slowly his hand made its way to her breast. God he loved her tits. He could look at them all day, but then again he'd have a constant hard on. She was so comfortable with her body that it amazed him. He remembered the one night they had locked themselves in their room and she had gone topless the whole time, but she didn't let him touch her. It drove him crazy, until he finally threw her on the bed and ripped her pants off when he couldn't take it anymore.

Daryl moved her bra out if the way, so he could cup her breast. It overflowed in his hand. The more he massaged it the more little moans he heard coming from her. He took her hard nipple between his rough fingers and played with it. He knew what she liked and soon she was moaning "Oh God" against his neck. Today he decided was to be all about her.

With Dayna's help, he pulled her shirt and bra off leaving her breasts complete free. They were still unbelievable, even after enjoying them for the past few weeks, he could never get enough of them. Daryl dipped his head down so he could place kisses all over her until he finally took her nipple in his mouth. Dayna arched on the bed as his mouth took over.

The touch of his mouth on her drove her crazy. Daryl had quickly learned what turned her on and his mouth on her now certainly had her writhing in ecstasy. He sucked at her, bit her and tugged at her breast until she could barely take anymore and then he moved to the other one and did it all over again.

Dayna had her fingers entangled in his hair…holding him to her, never wanting him to stop. His mouth was electrifying, and then it was gone. The sudden loss had her crying out until she felt his lips kiss her between her breasts and slowly move lower. She loved the feel of his scruff on her skin as he made his way down her body. His kisses continued as he undid her pants and slowly pulled them down.

Their eyes met, both filled with love and passion, and locked for several moments, before he gave her a sexy grin that had Dayna's heart racing even more. He slid down to the end of the bed, so he could pull her pants off the rest of the way. They were absently tossed aside. Dayna lay on the bed only in her panties, but they needed to go too. Daryl reached up and pulled them over her hips and they were soon forgotten on the ground. She was fully naked on the bed and he still had all of his clothing on. This was all about her.

Daryl inched his way up the bed, touching her incredible long legs with is hands. There was not an inch of her that he hadn't loved…except one. He had learned a lot about pleasing a woman from Dayna, it something that he hadn't even cared about before. He had touched her clit and learned how to rub it to bring her to a climax, yet he had never tasted her. Now it was time.

Dayna watched Daryl as he finished undressing her. She loved being naked around him for both her own pleasure and because she knew it drove him wild. She was certain he had a full blown erection hidden in those pants. When he started moving up her legs towards her pussy she wondered…hoped…prayed that he was going to kiss her there. They hadn't made it that far yet, but he knew it was something she enjoyed. Much to Daryl's embarrassment at times, Dayna was quite open when talking about sex.

She felt his fingers touch her there, and she couldn't help but groan from the pleasure that went soaring through her. He lay next to her hip as he teased her clit with his finger, before insert one then two fingers into her. "Oooh," she moaned.

"Like that?" he asked in a low growl.

"God, yes!"

He stroked his fingers in and out of her a few more times, while using his thumb to rub against her. She was soaking wet for him. He moved himself between her legs and Dayna eagerly spread them for him. He kissed his way up her inner thigh, with his fingers still toying with her. Finally, he removed his hand from her and used it to spread her swollen lips. His mouth slowly descended upon her.

When Daryl's mouth touched her Dayna almost bucked off the bed. His mouth had that big of an effect on her. Every nerve ending in her body screamed for release, yet none came. How did his tongue and mouth know how to do those things he was doing? He had mumbled in embarrassment that he had never done this before, but he had to have!

"Oh…my…God!" she cried out. "Don't stop, God that is so good!"

Daryl was surprised that she was this excited so quickly. That he was doing this right, excited him more than he thought possible. His dick was rock hard in his pants and he had to adjust himself to get more comfortable.

He kept using his mouth and fingers on her and it didn't take long for him to feel her slick walls tightening around his fingers. He looks up to see her grab the blanket they had on the bed with her hands and she arched off the bed. She literally screamed as her climax exploded.

When she was done, Daryl couldn't take it anymore. He sat up unzipped his pants and plunged himself into her over and over again until Dayna orgasmed a second time him and he came inside of her. They both collapsed exhausted in a tangle of arms and legs.

Daryl finally rolled off her and onto his back. That's when he looked down and realized that he hadn't used a condom. "Fuck!"

"No not now, Babe," Dayna murmured. "I'm too exhausted."

"No…I mean yeah, me too, but I just realized that I didn't use a condom," he admitted.

"Oh," she said turning on her side to look at him. "No wonder it felt so good and I came again so quickly. Well…" she started to say. "We have two choices. We can worry about what may or may not happen or just deal with it if it does. Frankly, I'm too happy and exhausted to worry."

" 'kay," said Daryl. He wasn't sure it was going to be as easy as she made it sound, but he'd follow her lead.

"I think you lied to me," Dayna said out of the blue.

"What? No…I didn't, but what the fuck are you talking about?" he asked completely confused.

"What you just did. You said you never did that before, but I find that hard to believe."

Daryl saw where she was going and just smiled. "First time."

"You realize we can never do that at the house, right? You made me scream. I have never screamed like that before. Never. Ever," she told him.

Daryl just kept smiling at her. Now he knew why she liked going down on him so much, it wasn't a one way thing like he thought. He found that he really liked doing it and seeing her come that way was a huge turn on for him. Hell he couldn't wait to get inside of her after it. "Guess we'll be makin' a lot visits here," he said with a smirk.

"Hell yeah," Dayna laughed. "How about every day?"

"Try explaining that one to Rick?"

"Oh hell no!" Dayna giggled. "Hey why am I the only one naked here? Get those clothes off buster, I want to feel that strong hot bod of your next to mine."

It still embarrassed him when she said stuff like that to him, he didn't say anything but stood up and removed his clothes before lying back down with her. They both were exhausted after the long scary day they had so they settled into a comfortable spooning position.

"I love you," Dayna whispered.

"I love you too," Daryl replied. The words came much easier for him now. They were no longer hard or strange for him to say.

He pulled her a little tighter to him and they both fell sound asleep.


	47. Chapter 47

Make sure you didn't miss chapter 46!

Epilogue

The next morning as the sunlight poured into the room, Daryl made Dayna scream again one more time before it was time to head home. They packed up the remaining food supplies they had and hid it in the closet wall. They knew they would be back. The room was erased of all signs that someone had been there recently, before they headed downstairs. It was time to go back to life in Alexandria.

They kissed once more before heading outside, whispering words of love between them. There was just one walker in the way that Daryl easily took care of so that they could get into his motorcycle and head home.

Daryl drove the bike up to the front gate. They were back. As it slowly rattled open, Dayna leaned forward and whispered, "We're home."

Daryl turned around and gave her a loving kiss. "Yep, I am." He thought long and hard during that trip back yesterday. He had come close to losing Dayna and that would have killed him. He had been searching for a place to call home his entire life. He was always restless to move on as no place had ever felt right to him and he didn't know why. He finally realized that home was anywhere Dayna was. It wasn't the hills of North Georgia or Alexandria or even that rundown house that he liked. Nope. As long as he was with Dayna he was home. It had taken him over forty years to find her and now he had no intention of letting her go. He was no longer restless, but content right where he was.

Home was never a place, but a feeling of being loved, a feeling of belonging that he had found with her. He could finally stop running.

The gate opened and Daryl drove them both home.

The end.

* * *

 **A/N- Thank you! Thank you! Thank you to everyone that has been reading _Restless_ over the last few months. That's been a whole lot of you. This was so enjoyable to write and Daryl is so easy to write for that I do miss him when the story ended. Daryl is a complex, yet simple man. Every week TWD is on, we want to fight alongside with him, cry with him or just give him that damned hug he always needs so bad. This is my way of doing that. Thank you to my loyal readers and thank you to Norman Reedus for giving us Daryl Dixon.**

 **My next story, _Suddenly…Gone_ , will start on Sunday. Please keep your eye out for it. This starts pre-apocalypse and learn what Daryl and Merle were like then, but will bring us back to the story we love so well.**

 **Would love to hear what you all thought about** ** _Restless_** **.**

 **Love you all!**

 **Walker Witch**

 **Walking Dead fans are the best! Thank you everyone!**


	48. Author

The saga of Daryl and Dayna continues in my newest story - Blindsided. Look for it Tomorrow - Sunday, January 29th.

It takes place were Restless ended, so you need to have read Restless for it to make any sense.

Happy to be back posting!

Walker Witch


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